World Alzheimer’s Day – Faces of Damentia

Did you know! Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of Dementia (a general term used to describe group of symptoms affecting mental function)  This neurological brain disorder is named after a German physician, Alois Alzheimer, who first described it in 1906. And till date 36 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease. There is one new case of dementia worldwide every seven seconds, and the number is set to rise to 65.7 million in 2030 worldwide and nearly 3.7 million people in India are suffering from dementia, and this number is set to double over the next 20 years, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Alzheimer’s disease affects your memory, thinking and even judgment badly, making you forget things quickly, which further hampers your ability to carry out even the most trivial day-to-day tasks. This problem arises when the nerve cells in your brain die due to aging, which affects the transmission of signals to the brain. The nerve cells die gradually over the years, so this ailment is most commonly seen in old people.

Common Symptoms:

·         Impaired memory

·         Afflicted thinking

·         Poor judgment

·         Disorientation and confusion

·         Tendency to misplace things

·         Excessive abstract thinking

·         Trouble in carrying out day-to-day activities

·         Personality and behavioral changes

·         Difficulty in following commands

·         Language problems and impaired communication

·         Bad visual skills as well as spatial skills

·         Lack of motivation and initiative

·         Changes in sleep patterns

More about Alzheimer’s

The progression of Alzheimer’s disease is different from patient to patient. In some people, the symptoms can worsen very quickly, within a span of a few years even; but for others, the same symptoms can take up to 20 long years to develop. In the early phase of the disease, long term memory is not affected, whereas short-term memory of the patient is seen to be impaired badly. The patient is most likely to forget recent conversations, and may ask same questions over and over again that had already been asked and answered before. Also, the patient forgets common language words during conversation. After being diagnosed for Alzheimer’s, the average period of survival of the patient is from 3-9 years.

Treatment

There is no sure cure for this disease till date, and also no identified process to slow down brain nerve damage. However, Alzheimer’s disease progression rate can be slowed down by some medications. If these medications and treatment is started at the early stage of the disease, then, it will be possible for your loved one to remain independent and function normally in the day-to-day life for a much longer span of time. If your loved one has developed any of the above mentioned symptoms, then it is important that you take him/her to the doctor immediately for diagnosis.

Is your loved one becoming forgetful of things or rather feeling confused doing activities of daily living?

World Suicide Prevention Week

Suicide is often depicted as an acceptable and unavoidable reaction to disappointment, failure, and may be stress. The notion of suicide is pretty ambiguous and has been smeared with too many grey shades that this trend has been growing at an alarming rate. Media too has time and again glorified the act of suicide. Some says it’s a cowardly means, like running away from a problem. What really prompts a person to take this path?

Suicide never has one reason alone. But lack of stress management is always one of the root causes. Most people who felt that they have nothing to live for at some point, say they were so weighed down by pessimistic emotions that they saw no other way except suicide. Yet, with proper intervention & treatment, these people were able to move on in life as the bitterness passed.

Stress isn't intrinsically the villain. What other than stress can push you to ‘face the challenge’, and to improve yourself. Your body and mind should be tuned to know when stress becomes too much and intensifies suicidal feelings. And of course these stressors are so subjective that its difficult to pin down some common solutions. Reducing factors that compliments suicide is one simple way; be it at individual, familial or societal level.

If someone you know talks of suicide even in a joking manner, don’t take it lightly. If you cant get him/her to confide in you, keep a close watch and don’t hesitate to get professional help. According to WHO Statistics suicide is one of the leading causes of death among youth aged from 15 – 25. Is it because they are naturally more emotionally vulnerable or is it the skewed relationships or inability to cope with life’s setbacks?

Remember, steering of your life lays with you alone. So you took a wrong turn. Just turn back or go for a new road. Why would you crash yourself? We all have a cool & happening person inside us. You decide what you want to be, where you want to be and who you want to be with. If you cant cope with a ‘bad boss’, change your job. Find new friends. Talk to your family. Do what you need to do. Such a plethora of options to limit your stress! 

Hence, limit your stress, and find outlets to vent stress. Then there is no question of straying towards ‘danger zone’.