The brain killer

World Alzheimer’s Day, October 21 each year, is a day on which Alzheimer associations concentrate their efforts on raising awareness about dementia.

About 5% of men and 6% of women over 60 years of age are affected with Alzheimer’s. With the aging of populations, this figure is projected to increase rapidly over the next 20 years.

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain syndrome characterised by a progressive decline in memory, thinking, comprehension, calculation, language, learning capacity and judgment. It is important, however, to differentiate the symptoms of Alzhemimer’s disease from normal age-related decline in cognitive functions which is more gradual and leads to much milder disability.

There is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The goals of care are to:

• Maintain the functioning of the individual;
• Reduce disability due to lost mental functions; reorganise routines so as to maximise use of the retained functions;
• Minimise symptoms such as depression, agitation, suspiciousness;
• Provide support to families.

Psychosocial interventions, including education, support, counselling and respite care, are extremely important in Alzheimer’s disease, both for patients and family caregivers. Some medicines have demonstrated usefulness in ameliorating cognitive dysfunction and improving attention, as well as reducing delusions.