Today we are all celebrating 'World Alzheimer's Day, which alarms the pulse of affected people in Andhra Pradesh, according to medical statistics, it goes above three lakhs people suffering from this disease. Regular exercise, an active lifestyle and a healthy diet could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s,the most common cause of dementia that leads to memory loss, severe intellectual disability in addition to various behavioural disturbances in people, according to health experts.
Hyderabad has about 35,000 people with Alzheimer’s while there are over 3 lakh people across the state affected by the disease.
By and large, the onset of the disease is most likely to occur after the age of 60 years, making patients completely dependent on their families for care and support. The incidence of the disease is reaching epidemic proportions, experts said.
The 2013 World Alzheimer's Report,titled ‘Journey of Care’ released on the eve of the World Alzheimer’s Day on Friday, reveals that over 35 million people worldwide live with the disease today.By 2050,the number of those affected is expected to more than triple to 115 million.
Dr Suvarna Alladi, neurologist at NIMS who has done extensive work on the Alzheimer’s disease said that aging is probably the primary contributing factor for the disease. “People are now living above the age of 60, courtesy improved healthcare infrastructure. Currently, an estimated 8% of the state’s population is above the age of 60,” she added. Five to seven persons (above 60 years) in every 100 persons have Alzheimer’s,she added.
For instance, 64-year-old businessman Rakesh Reddy, who,until last month, used to frequently shuttle between Hyderabad and Vijayawada, recently got off at the wrong station and remained untraced for about a week. Doctors who later diagnosed him with Alzheimer’s said his family had consistently overlooked his frequent bouts of forgetfulness.
While age is generally considered to be the primary reason, stroke that leads to vascular dementia is the second major known contributor to the disease, experts said. Risk factors for vascular dementia, that occurs due to lack of blood supply to the brain, are high blood pressure,diabetes,smoking and drinking. “Among the 3,000 stroke patients treated at NIMS, 800 patients were diagnosed with vascular dementia,” said Dr Subhash Kaul, head, neurology, in Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad.
People who keep themselves active can delay the onset of the disease by about five years, experts said. Also, maintaining one’s required body weight and keeping the vitals in normal levels are other things that must be on the priority list. Doctors said that early symptoms are often mistakenly dismissed as'age-related' issues, or manifestations of stress.In the early stages of the disease, the most common symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events.
