World Alzheimer's Day - "Dementia: It's Time for Action"

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”.

September 21^st 2010  is  celebrated  globally as World Alzheimer's Day. It is an annual event when the Alzheimer's Association  teams up with  organizations and people around the world  to step-up  awareness about Alzheimer's disease  and its repercussion  on the  families, society, and the nation as a whole.

Ignorance about the facts of the disease wreaks havoc in the lives of patients and their families. Most often, family members dismiss the initial symptoms as a natural part of ageing. Patients are brought to a specialist only after the patient's health has considerably deteriorated.

Caring for Alzheimers Disease Patients - Slideshow

Quiz on Brain

World Alzheimer’s day is thus a step in the right direction by enablinga platform to emphasize the need for more education, support, and research about Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is an ‘unforgettable’ experience. For most of us, taking a trip down memory lane could be nostalgic, evoking myriad emotions, as we recall with ease the many experiences of life. Yet for some 35 million people in the world today, Alzheimer’s disease has jeopardized this capacity to recall memory, and to which they have progressively grown alien to.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex brain disorder which takes its name after the German physician, Alois Alzheimer, who first identified the disease in 1907.  Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia affecting people over the age of 60.

Each year about 350,000 fresh cases of Alzheimer’s disease are diagnosed. The risk is higher as people catch up with age. Thankfully, it is a rare occurrence among the younger lot.  Hereditary factors contribute to 5% of the cases. A strong family history of dementia is a sure risk factor. Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease can strike anywhere between 30-60 years.

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Alzheimer’s, is a degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Along with lapses in memory, the patient’s mental abilities also take a beating, albeit gradually. Patients also portray behavioral changes, and gradually thinking and intellectual tasks become extremely difficult. The loss is irreversible. Ultimately, the patients forget their identity, and simply exist.

Patients with Alzheimer's face huge problems with memory, judgment, and structured thought process. Thus their normal life gets affected. The disease also causes alterations in mood and behavioral changes. Alzheimer’s advances differently in each person; it is crucial to detect the disease early, so that treatment outcomes are positive.

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Prognosis

Presently, there is no magic pill that can reverse the advancement of Alzheimer's disease. The best bet so far combines the expertise of psychotherapy, environmental changes and medication. The pitfalls of drug therapy for patients who are already suffering memory impairment can get worse because of the inability to remember to take a drug, and more so if the drug is to be taken many times in the course of a day.

Management

Nearly 70% of Alzheimer’s sufferers are cared by their family members at home.

Behavioral approaches are beneficial to calm down the intensity of certain difficult behaviors, often portrayed as aggressive and even unbecoming manifestations in conduct.

It is here that the caregiver can play a proactive role in comprehending underlying triggers, and assist in keeping them at bay.

• Evolving methods to simplify complex tasks- such as dressing or feeding - into easy convenient activities.

• Reducing clutter and confusion goes a long way in reducing the challenge of caring for patients with Alzheimer’s.

• Activities that induce pleasure such as games and music, are known to have a positive effect on the mood, allaying potential fears and depression.

The silver lining clearly rests in the quality of care meted out to such patients. This directly reflects on the well-being of the patient.

Awareness about the symptoms and risk factors of Alzheimer’s disease is crucial in seeking timely medical help for the patients. The focus of initiatives this year, shifts on the importance of diagnosing the disease early, which is the only way to control some of its life-altering symptoms and impede the progression of the disease to a certain extent.

Source-Medindia