On World Alzheimer's Day, here's everything you need to know about the condition
On a working day in the outpatient department while I was a Neurology resident I met a mother and a son. To the world mother to child relationship is extremely special but, the mother was unable to recognize her son.
Her son elicited that his mother initially started forgetting where she kept her spectacles, and then missed on sentences. She gradually started forgetting familiar names and could not recognize familiar people. She lost track of her routine activities, gradually became bed ridden and was presently at a stage unable to identify her son.
Alzheimer’s disease, in my clinical practice has always made me feel how important it is to be healthy. Life is about making good memories, but what if the memory is lost gradually.
On November 3, 1906, a clinical psychiatrist and neuroanatomist, Alois Alzheimer, reported " A peculiar severe disease process of the cerebral cortex" to the 37th Meeting of South- West German psychiatrists in Tubingen. He described a 50 year old woman whom he had followed from her admission for paranoia, progressive sleep disturbance, memory impairment, aggression, and confusion, until her death 5 years later. His report noted distinctive plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain histology. It excited little interest despite an enthusiastic response from Kraepelin, who promptly included "Alzheimer's Disease" in the third edition of his text psychiatrie in 1910. Alzheimer published three further cases in 1909 and a "plaque only" variant in 1911, which on re-examination of the original specimens in 1993 showed to be a different stage of the same process. Alzheimer died in 1915, aged 51, soon after gaining the chair of Psychiatry in Breslau, and long before his name became a household word.
World Alzheimer's Day is observed on September 21, every year to raise awareness and educate about Alzheimer's disease and Dementia. This day is observed to understand the importance of talking about dementia and demystify it. Alzheimer's is a progressive disease that causes brain cells to degenerate and die.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a major public health problem and represents commonest form of dementia that affects many aspects of brain functions and contributes to 60–70% of dementia cases. Public awareness on Alzheimer’s disease is very important in identifying the disease early and minimizing progress of symptoms.
The following are the 10 Warning signs of Alzheimer’s according to the centers for disease control (CDC)
Memory often changes as people grow older. Some people notice changes in themselves before anyone else does. For other people, friends and family are the first to see changes in memory, behavior, or abilities. Memory loss that disrupts
daily life is not a typical part of aging. People with one or more of these 10 warning signs should see a doctor to find the cause. Early diagnosis gives them a chance to seek treatment and plan for the future.
- Memory loss that disrupts daily life: forgetting events, repeating yourself or relying on more aids to help you remember (like sticky notes or reminders).
- Challenges in planning or solving problems: having trouble paying bills or cooking recipes you have used for years.
- Difficulty completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure: having problems with cooking, driving places, using a cell phone, or shopping.
- Confusion with time or place: having trouble understanding an event that is happening later, or losing track of dates.
- Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relations: having more difficulty with balance or judging distance, tripping over things at home, or spilling or dropping things more often.
- New problems with words in speaking or writing: having trouble following or joining a conversation or struggling to find a word you are looking for (saying “that thing on your wrist that tells time” instead of “watch”).
- Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps: placing car keys in the washer or dryer or not being able to retrace steps to find something.
- Decreased or poor judgment: being a victim of a scam, not managing money well, paying less attention to hygiene, or having trouble taking care of a pet.
- Withdrawal from work or social activities: not wanting to go to places of worship or other activities as you usually do, not being able to follow football games or keep up with what’s happening.
- Changes in mood and personality: getting easily upset in common situations or being fearful or suspicious.
As there is little understanding of the disease, the stigma associated with it is a global problem. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. It affects parts of the brain that controls memory, judgment and language function, which can interfere with the individual’s activities of daily living.
Some of the risk factors include blood pressure, smoking, sedentary life style. Thus, by modifying these risk factors, one can slow the progression of the illness.
Timely consultation to the doctor helps to delay the progression to some extent. It is also important to raise awareness about this disease among the family members, as at one point in the course of the illness, care giver responsibility becomes the most important aspect in the treatment.
There is a global need to raise awareness of this disease. One can help by individualizing the dementia care, providing care giver support, early diagnosis and destigmatisation. Together, we can reach out to the dementia patients as well as their family members and provide the necessary care and support. This year, on World Alzheimer’s Day, we must pledge to understand and comfort the dementia patients.
Dr. Salma Suhana
Assistant professor, Department of Neurology
Yenepoya Medical College and Hospital
Deralakatte, Mangalore.
Consultant Neurologist
Medi Nerv, Mangalore.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
