World Alzheimer’s Day: Know about its symptoms and cure
21 September is marked as World Alzheimer’s Day which is celebrated every year all around the world to raise awareness on it. The disease brings a continuous decline in thinking of a person that affects a person’s ability to function independently. This year marks the 10th anniversary of this global campaign. Riya Shahi reports…
Alzheimer: Know when it was identified
Alzheimer disease was identified and named in 1901 by a German psychiatrist, Alois Alzheimer who diagnosed this disease in a 50- year old women.
Alzheimer Disease: Its symptoms
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes the brain to shrink and brain cells to die. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia which leads to severe memory impairment, it destroys the memory and the person loses its ability to carry our everyday tasks.
Alzheimer disease: Common symptoms
Memory loss is the key symptom of the disease. The patient finds difficulty in remembering recent events or conversations. People suffering from this disease may get lost in places they are familiar with, repeat a sentence over and over, forget the names of family and friends. They will find multi-tasking very difficult, and its hard for them to deal with numbers. People around them will notice a change in their personality and behaviour.
Alzheimer cure?
There is no treatment that cures Alzheimer’s disease so it is very important for us to be aware about this disease and have precautions. There are few treatments which can temporarily slow the worsening of dementia symptoms and improve quality of life but it cannot be fully cured. This is a very severe disease which in its advanced stage can cause complications from severe loss of brain function — such as dehydration, malnutrition or infection which can result in death of a person.
Alzheimer: Number of patients in India
Alzheimer has become very common all around the globe. In India, more than 5 million people have some form of dementia. Worldwide, at least 50 million people are suffering with dementia, making the disease a global health crisis that must be addressed. Alzheimer is very common in people of the age group 60+ and is very rare for the young adults.
Such an vicious disease need to be noticed by the world specially the senior citizens and rationally, World Alzheimer’s Day aims to shine light on the warning signs of this disease, encouraging people to get aware about Alzheimer, ask for help and advice if they are facing any symptoms. This day marks a global effort to bring a much needed awareness to this world for a better future.