World Alzheimer’s Day, celebrated on 21st of September, is a day to remember those who cannot remember. On this day, we strive to raise awareness about this highly prevalent and progressive disease that has no cure and cannot be prevented.
This year’s theme is ‘the power of knowledge’.
By understanding more about this disease and how it affects people, we can offer support to patients and their families.
This disease is named after Alois Alzheimer, German psychiatrist and pathologist, who was the first to identify and describe its symptoms in 1906.
It is expected that by 2050, every 33 seconds a new case of Alzheimer’s will develop. In India, 5 out of every 100 elderly persons have dementia and many more are at high risk of developing this condition. Since 1992, the ALZHEIMER’S & RELATED DISORDERS SOCIETY OF INDIA (ARDSI) is the primary society in India that has been working to ensure that every person with dementia gets the support and care they deserve.
Here are some facts about this poorly understood disease:
- Alzheimer’s is a form of Dementia, and starts with difficulty in remembering recent events.
- Over 47 million people worldwide are living with some form of dementia, and Alzheimer’s is by far the most severe among them.
- Progressive symptoms include language problems, disorientation, depression, mood swings, inability to manage self-care and cognitive issues.
- As the disease progresses, it takes a heavy toll on the caregivers who become physically and emotionally taxed. The caregivers themselves need care and emotional support as they undergo trauma seeing their loved ones slowly degenerate.
- Till now, there is no single test that can conclusively detect the disease. In fact, most of the early symptoms are commonly associated with ageing.
- Although there is plenty of ongoing research, to date there are no medications or treatments to stop the progress of the disease or reduce its severity.
The Alzheimer’s Association encourages people to wear purple on World Alzheimer’s Day. This is the colour commonly used to show support for the cause. Purple is a magical colour, a combination of warm and cool colours (red and blue), and symbolises the emotional turmoil that this disease evokes in the family and friends of an Alzheimer’s patient.
MWT Global Academy and IHNA Kochi campus offer Certification courses in Aged Care and Individual Support, like Certificate III in Individual Support (Ageing and Disability), Certificate IV in Ageing Support and the Vocational Certificate in Geriatric care. These courses equip healthcare workers to provide support to people in aged care/disability care health facilities and the community.
This Alzheimer’s Day, let us join hands in solidarity to support the millions of people across the world who are living with this disease!