September 21 : World Alzheimer's Day 2019
Dementia Awareness Month is held during September each year with World Alzheimer's Day occurring on 21 September.
Sangeeta Jain
Sep 19, 2019
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Every year World Alzheimer’s Day is observed on 21st September and this day is part of World Alzheimer's Month. This year's focus is on the stigma that Alzheimer patients have to face and to eradicate this, we all should try to break the stereotypes and myths that surround a dementia diagnosis.
What is Alzheimer's disease is all about?
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia. It is a progressive brain disease that results in loss of memory and thinking skills. It destroys the brain cells which cause memory loss, memory changes, erratic behavior and loss of body functions. This disease usually starts slowly but gets worse with time. One of the most common early symptoms of Alzheimer's is difficulty in remembering recent events. Alzheimer's patient forgets the name of the people like longtime friend, address, even name of the roads and other things.
Over 50 million people live with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in the world today. If breakthroughs are not discovered, rates could exceed 152 million by 2050.
World Alzheimer’s Day 2019 Theme
The theme for World Alzheimer’s Month 2019 will be raising awareness and challenging stigma.
Facts about Alzheimer's disease:
- Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disease. It starts with forgetting things and develops short memory loss which results in difficulty in remembering recent events, eventually resulting in the inability to look after daily activities and even basic needs.
- Alzheimer's disease mostly affects elderly people. Since the population of elderly people is rising in India, this is the cause of alarm.
- The exact cause of Alzheimer's disease is not yet known. Certain complex events occurring in the brain appear to cause this disease.
- There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease. Early detection benefits the patient in treating this disease effectively.
- The treatment modalities include medicinal, psychological and caregiving aspects.
- Family and social support plays a key role.
- Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, leading to a continuous decline in memory and thinking skills.
- Women have a higher risk.
- Education can lower your risk.
- Most cases of Alzheimer's occur in people age 65 and older.
Warning Signs:
- Changes in mood
- Forgetting the recent information
- Challenges in solving problems
- Difficulty in completing familiar tasks at home or work
- Confusion with time or place
- Difficulty in reading, judging distance and recognizing color
- Losing the track of date and time
- Misplacing the things
- Withdrawal from social and leisure activities
Helpful tips for prevention:
Engagement in physical, mental, social and recreational activities such as:
- Reading
- Writing for pleasure
- Playing musical instruments
- Taking part in adult education courses
- Playing indoor games such as crosswords, puzzles, scrabble and chess
- Swimming
- Group sports, such as bowling
- Walking
- Yoga and Meditation
Objectives:
- Enhancing and raising awareness about Alzheimer’s worldwide.
- Developing the services provided for patients with Alzheimer's disease at all stages of the disease.
- Reducing the risk of Alzheimer's disease by changing lifestyle, and adopting a healthy approach.
- Holding workshops on challenges and delivering comprehensive service to Alzheimer's patients and caring about them in the right ways.
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