Every seven seconds a new dementia case gets diagnosed in the world, therefore the Theme for World Alzheimer’s Day 2010 is “ Dementia: It’s time for action”.

The enduring disorder in memory retention is known as Alzheimer's disease. Generally, the disease affects the brain tissues after one reaches forty years. Once affected, Alzheimer's gradually destroys the ability to reason, remember, imagine and learn. It is marked by abnormal clumps (plaques) and irregular knots (neurofibrillary tangles) of brain cells.

Memory is the capacity to retain and recall information about past and present incidents. Memory capacity is the ability to analyze and synthesize the assimilated information and not information storage alone. Memory power varies between individuals. In Sanskrit, the word ‘Memory’ is called ‘smriti’ The yoga sutras of Patanjali describe memory as ‘an experienced object not being lost from the mind.’

The Nervous system is a complex system through which our body is able to communicate internal as well as external information to its epicenter, the brain. The Nevous system can be broken down into two basic parts, the first being the Central Nervous System, known as CNS, and the second part being the Peripheral Nervous System. The CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord.

Brain is one of the largest and complex organs in the human body and weighs about 1.3 Kgs. Neurons and glial cells are the basic units that make up the brain. There are about 40 billion nerve cells, known as neurons, in the brain. Brain controls our body, receives, analyzes and stores information.