Gourav Sabharwal
World Alzheimer’s Day, a part of Alzheimer’s Month, is observed every year on the 21st of September, with the objective of creating awareness about the misconception of dementia and Alzheimer’s and to encourage and support the families of Alzheimer-affected patients to tackle and fight it.
Alzheimer’s is a severe brain disorder of memory loss and confusion, if not diagnosed and managed on time, can adversely impact one’s mental abilities of learning, thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem-solving, decision-making, and attention, which could compromise one’s day-to-day life activities and control over emotions. This serious ailment impacts not only the patients but also their families and friends.
Every year, the entire September month is designated as “Alzheimer’s Month.” People across the world, various Alzheimer’s societies and organisations come together in support of the people affected with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
They organise various activities to educate people about the warning signs and symptoms, early diagnosis, and appropriate treatment of this severe mental disorder, apart from providing social and financial support to the affected.
This year, 2023, World Alzheimer’s Day theme is “Never too early, never too late”, which underlines not only the pivotal role of Alzheimer’s disease risk factors identification but also the espousement of proactive risk reduction measures to hamper, and if possible, prevent the onset of dementia.
Understanding the risk recognition for Alzheimer’s disease and management can create great impacts. Various lifestyle changes can still slow or prevent its development. There are various risk factors shared by both vascular disease and dementia syndromes. The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued recommendations to reduce the risk of dementia, which can stall cardiovascular diseases.
Improving lifestyle choices apart from controlling the modifiable risk factors can minimise not only the risk for future dementia but also other chronic conditions. Protection of brain health can be achieved with:
Alcohol abstinence.
A lifelong learning enthusiasm.
Social interaction and stimulation in later life
About Alzheimer Disease and Symptoms
Almost 50 million people are living with dementia globally, which is the leading cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. China has the highest Alzheimer’s affected population in the world.
Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain condition that gradually deteriorates memory and cognitive abilities and is the most likely cause of dementia in older people.
Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative and progressive disease that slowly destroys memory and other functions related to memory. It happens when plagues containing amyloid-beta peptides continue to accumulate in the brain. Peptide aggregation means their formation of one over the other which deforms the cortex of the brain and leads to Alzheimer’s. It is similar to plaque which blocks arteries, affects blood supply and causes cardiovascular diseases.
Symptoms – Memory loss or Dementia is the key symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Inability to recall recent events or discussions is the early symptom of the illness.