BHARATI PAWASKAR
Shamala was 86 when she began to lose sense of time and became increasingly forgetful. She started denying food, saying she just had her meals. She also refused to have liquids, saying her throat hurts and she cannot drink. Gradually she lost her sleep and kept awake whole night. The family kept a 24-hour nurse to take care of her, as she began to lose control of her balance and fall off, if tried to get up and walk from her bed. Soon she stopped speaking and began shouting bad words. That too stopped and she only continued grunting, until a year later she passed away due to cardiac arrest. Shamala was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and because her family knew what she is going through, they offered all medical care to her until the last day of her life. However, not all are lucky like Shamala. There are still many out there whose families are not aware what they are suffering from and why they behave in unpredictable ways as they age.
Alzheimer’s disease is progressive disease of the brain, which gets worse with time, affecting memory, language, thought, emotion and cognitive functions. It is the most common type of dementia. Named after Dr Alois Alzheimer, who in 1906 noticed changes in the brain tissue of a woman who had died of an unusual mental illness. Her symptoms included memory loss, language problems and unpredictable behaviour.
So, is anyone in your family suffering from memory loss or problems with language, experiencing disorientation to time and place or facing problems in keeping track of things? In such cases, do not allow them to laugh it off saying, ‘ age is catching up!’
“All these memory issues, necessarily, need not be a part of normal aging. Every single person who is aging, need not suffer from memory loss. The problem could be more serious “ perhaps it’s dementia syndrome,” warns Dr Amit Dias, lecturer in the department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Goa Medical College. Explaining that dementia is a group of symptoms that affects mental cognitive tasks such as memory, reasoning, performance of daily activities and communication abilities, Dr Dias points out that many conditions can cause dementia, including degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s. Each cause of dementia brings about damage to a different set of brain cells. “However, the exact cause of dementia is unknown and no cure is available,” he admits.
There are over 100 forms of dementia, the most known of which is Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 50-60 per cent of all cases. Symptoms of dementia may include loss of memory, difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying, difficulty in performing previously routine tasks and personality and mood changes. “Those affected with dementia should be empowered to live well,” states Dr Dias who has won the prestigious Fondation Médéric Alzheimer award. He has also received the Alzheimer Disease International award for the best evidence-based research on interventions for people with dementia. Chair of the Nominations Committee for Alzheimer’s Disease International, UK, Dr Dias is also a founder member of multiple groups, and a part of inspirational talks like ‘Building dementia free community’ at TEDxPanaji.
With 20 years of field experience in dementia related issues, Dr Dias has been organizing several awareness programmes for senior citizens all through this month in Goa. September is World Alzheimer’s month. September 2019 is marking the 8th World Alzheimer’s month and September 21 is the World Alzheimer’s day. Dr Dias shares, “We will be talking in a school in prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, the ‘Mind it’ initiative. We are planning a social media campaign on dementia titled ‘Let’s talk’ on September 21.”
Dr Dias hopes that this years’ theme “ ‘Let’s talk about dementia’ will help people come out of their closets and share their experiences and problems. The stigma and negative attitude towards dementia does not allow people to declare that their near or dear one is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
If help is available from expert doctors, caretakers, friends and family, the person suffering can still live a good, quality life with adjustment and understanding. Sometimes there is stigma within the person too, apart from the family and the society that it is the end of their role. hares, “It is the lack of exercise and cognitive stimulation, coupled with depression and hypertension which harms the brain cells and they start dying. Like our body, our brain too needs exercise. Brain gym activates a person and makes it functional. This helps him live longer,” states Dr Dias.
“There are multiple factors that lead to this disease. However, it is preventable. One can postpone it by addressing multiple factors “ eating, sleeping, exercising and socializing. Avoid loneliness, isolation, depression. Lack of exercise and cognitive stimulation, as well as presence of hypertension can lead to dementia. So, keep your brain active. This will stop it from releasing abnormal proteins. Change your lifestyle, live joyfully,” advises Dr Dias.
There has been rise in number of dementia patients in Goa. The reasons can be multiple. Families are becoming smaller, and people are living longer. There are older people in the homes and less younger persons to look after them. Migration is also a reason. Younger members shift abroad, leaving older people in their native homes. Hence, loneliness cripples these elderly. Money is not the problem but there has to be someone to take care of the elderly, who fall into depression. “The society must address these factors as the number of people suffering from dementia is increasing day by day,” feels Dr Dias, who has authored ‘Dementia India Report’ that has been given to PM Narendra Modi.
“Usually 90 per cent of the people do not know that they are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Many of them brush aside their symptoms as age related problems. Some hide their problems due to stigma. We find these cases in our house-to-house visits. Each case is different, yet together they fall under dementia. We must, as a society, fight dementia and help those who suffer from this syndrome. Let us make this world a better place to live for all,” concludes Dr Amit.
