What is Alzheimer's Disease?
Expert answers to frequently asked questions
Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of Dementia .Dementia is a collective name for progressive degenerative brain syndromes which affect memory, thinking, behavior and emotion.
Symptoms may include:
- Loss of memory
- Difficulty in finding the right words or understanding what people are saying
- Difficulty in performing previously routine tasks
- Personality and mood changes
Diagnosis of Dementia
There is no simple test to make a diagnosis and dementia can only be confirmed with certainty by examining the brain at post mortem. 1-lowever, a reasonably accurate diagnosis of dementia can be made by taking a careful history of the person’s problem from a closerelativc or friend, together with an examination of the person’s physical and mental status. It is important to exclude other treatable conditions that cause memory loss such as depression urinary infection, vitamin deficiency and brain tumour.
Symptoms
Typically, Alzheimer’s disease begins with lapses of memory. difficulty in finding the right words for everyday
objects or mood swings. As Alzheimer’s progresses. the person may
- Routinely forget recent events, names and faces and have difficulty in understanding what is being said
- Become confused when handling money or driving a car
- Undergo personality changes, appearing to no longer care about those around them
- Experience mood swings and burst into tears for no apparent reason or become convinced that someone is trying to harm them
In advanced cases, people may also:
- Adopt unsettling behavior like getting up in the middle of the night or wander off and become lost
- Lose their inhibitions and sense of suitable behavior, undress in public or make inappropriate sexual advances.
What care should we provide to patients with Alzheimer’s disease ?
In treating patients with dementia as definitive cure for the condition is not possible. It is very important to provide as much supportive care as possible. Many patients have lost their control over urination; they can be helped with catheters or condom drainage. Frequent change of posture is important to prevent pressure sores. Feeds should be given in upright position as far as possible to prevent fluids from entering in to lungs.
How to handle emotional outbursts of a patient with dementia?
Emotional outbursts and violent behavior are very common problems that caregivers face when dealing with a patient having dementia. Usually, these emotional outbursts are inappropriate responses to any of the basic physical needs of the patient, like hunger, sleep or desire to evacuate bowels. As the patient’s response to these physical needs is altered in dementia, he adopts a violent behavior. Identification of the cause of such outbursts and fulfilling the physical need usually takes care of such episodes. Being told you have Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia or any other cause of dementia can come as a shock, even if you have felt that something was not quite right.
Common questions asked about Alzheimer Disease
1.My mother has Alzheimer's disease. Will I get it?
There are a few very rare cases where Alzheimer’s disease does run in families. In these cases, there is a direct link between an inherited mutation in one gene and the onset of the disease. Most cases of Alzheimer’s disease are not of the type that is passed on directly in this way. If a family member has a normal form of Alzheimer's disease. the risk to close relatives is around three times higher than the risk for a person of similar age who has no family history of the disease.
2. Is there a cure?
There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's Disease or for most other causes of dementia. Nor can a cure be expected in the foreseeable future.
3. Are there any drug treatments for. Alzheimer’s disease?
Although there are no drugs that can cure Alzheimer’s disease. there are a number of drug treatments that can help some people with Alzheimer’s disease. The currently available treatments can slow down the progression of the disease in some cases for periods between 6 and 18 months. The main class of such compounds is the cholinesterase inhibitors. These drugs work by reducing the breakdown of acetylcholine in the brain. Acetylcholine is a chemical substance that occurs naturally in the brain and enables nerve cells in the brain to pass to messages to each other.
Research has shown that many people with Alzheimer’s disease have a reduced amount of acetylcholine and it has thought that the loss of this chemical may result in deterioration of memory.
4. Can Alzheimer’s disease be prevented?
Not enough is known about the causes of Alzheimer’s disease for any preventive measures to be recommended.
5. Dad has become Violent. What can I do
It is important to remember that your father’s aggression is not directly aimed at you but is part of his illness. It is common for people who have Alzheimer's Disease to pass through a phase of being angry and sometimes aggressive.
Although this phase will pass, it may help you in the meantime to consider some of the things that may be triggering your father’s anger. For example. he may not like being forced to accept help to do things that he used to do on his own, such as washing. Sometimes hunger, the need to pass urine or constipation can lead to disruptive behavior. If the angry outbursts have only started recently, they may be due to an infection or pain. Once you have been able to identify some of the things that tend to make your father angry, you may be able to reduce the number of angry outbursts.
6. Memory Loss in Alzheimer’s
Declining memory, especially short-term memory, is the most common early symptom of dementia. People with ordinary forgetfulness can still remember other facts associated with the thing they have forgotten. For example, they may briefly forget their next-door neighbor’s name but they still know the person they are talking to is their next- door neighbor. A person with dementia will not only forget their neighbor’s name but also the context.
The most common early symptoms of dementia are:
- Memory loss
- Difficulty performing familiar tasks
- Problems with language
- Disorientation to time and place
- Poor or decreased judgement
- Problems with keeping track of things
- Misplacing things
- Changes in mood or behavior
- Changes in personality
- Loss of initiative
Dr. D. Shivanand Pai, MD; DM (NEURO) , Associate Professor of Neurology , KMC, Mangaluru . Clinic : Amrutha Multi Speciality Clinic, Atthavar, Mangaluru . Ph: 0824 2443342, 2443340, 2442341
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Ex-PM Devegowda warns opposition of electoral losses if they continue to allege 'vote chori'
New Delhi (PTI): Former Prime Minister H D Devegowda on Monday said the Opposition parties would "suffer" if they continue to raise allegations of "vote chori" and create suspicion in the minds of voters by blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.
Participating in a discussion on election reforms in the Rajya Sabha, he criticised the Opposition for making a mockery about the Prime Minister "in the streets and on the public platform".
"This (India) is a very big country. A large country. Congress may be in three states. Remember my friends please, by using the words 'vote chori' you are going to suffer in the coming days. You are not going to win the battle," Devegowda said, referring to the Opposition members.
He asked what the Opposition is going to earn by "blaming Narendra Modi's leadership and creating a suspicion in the mind of the voters" through the claims of "vote chori".
"What has happened to their minds? Let them rectify," Devegowda said.
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The former prime minister said that during his over seven decades of public life, he has never raised such issues of vote theft despite facing defeat in elections.
He also cited a letter written by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru regarding inclusion of "18,000 votes" (voters) in Kerala.
"Why I am telling this (because) during the Nehru period also, there were certain lapses in the electoral system," said Devegowda, who was the prime minister between June 1, 1996 and April 21, 1997.
He said that the Congress party faced defeat in the recent Bihar elections despite raising the issues of mistakes in the electoral rolls.
"What happened after that even after so much review (of voters list). Think (for) yourself! You got six MLAs," the senior Janata Dal (Secular) leader said.
Devegowda questioned the Opposition as to why they want to make allegations against the prime minister on the issue of the voters list?
"Election Commission is there. Supreme Court is there. The Election Commission has given direction to all the state units to rectify all these things," he said.
Devegowda said people of the country have full confidence in Narendra Modi's government and it will come back to power after the next Lok Sabha elections as well.
K R Suresh Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party's Rajya Sabha member from Telangana, said that electoral reforms are the backbone for a healthy democracy.
He said a large and diverse nation like Indi needs clean electoral rolls.
Asserting that strict re-verification should not become a mechanism for exclusion, Reddy said no eligible voter should lose their right to vote simply because accessing paperwork is difficult.
He said while the concern definitely is on the voters' exclusion, "we should also be equally concerned about the percentage of voting."
"What is happening in voting today? Once the election ends, the drama begins. The biggest challenge that the Indian democracy has been facing in spite of two major Constitutional amendments has been the anti-defection. Anti-defection is the name of the game today, especially in smaller states, especially where the legislatures are small in number," Reddy said.
The senior BRS leader suggested creation of a parliamentary committee "which would constantly look into the defection" and "ways and means to cutting that".
AIADMK's M Thambidurai raised the issues related to election campaigning.
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"Election campaigns are one of the important election processes. In that, political parties must be given the proper chance to campaign," he said and cited problems faced by his party in Tamil Nadu in this regard.
Thambidurai said political parties were facing hardships in Tamil Nadu to conduct public meetings and to express their views to the public.
YSRCP's Yerram Venkata Subba Reddy stressed on bringing electoral reforms at both the state and national levels.
He also suggested replacing Electronic Voting Machines with paper ballots in all future elections.
"EVM may be efficient but can't be trusted. Paper ballot may not be efficient but can be trusted. You need trust in democracy," Reddy added.
