Alzheimer’s Disease

 

Alzheimer’s disease is a slowly progressive set of behavioural and clinical features that include dementia and may or may not include forgetfulness, difficulty in problem solving, declining decision making capability, change in mood or behaviour, and ability to reason.

Though Alzheimer’s is a disease of the elderly, but an early onset variant too is known to occur.

 

                                                                                   

Quick Facts

 

• Alzheimer’s is the commonest cause of dementia which is a form of mental deterioration
• Disease results from a combination of factors and are variable for individual cases
• Those at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s have age above 60, are female, have a family history, and have had unhealthy lifestyles. These individuals are also more likely to have been afflicted by diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and depression
• The diagnosis rests upon patient’s personal history, the details elicited from attendants, exclusion of certain medications, brain scans, evaluation of intelligence by certain tests, and presence of other concomitant medical conditions
• Although drug treatments are available for Alzheimer’s but their use is confined to check progression of symptoms and to lessen the severity of symptoms
• As such, it is very important to know how to cope with Alzheimer’s especially because there is no cure for the condition.

 

 

Coping with Alzheimer’s disease

 

1. Adopt healthy lifestyle right from the young age which includes healthy food, staying away from addictive substances, performing recommended levels of physical activity, weight management, and developing a routine with the right mix of intellectual stimulation and rest.

 

2. Make a ‘home’ for everything. This means that all your articles of use should have a fixed place where they can be easily located when needed.

 

3. Allot fixed hours for sleep, exercises, meals, and social activities

 

4. Stay away from narcotics, alcohol, tobacco, and other psychotropic substances

 

5. Engage yourself in a variety of tasks like indoor and outdoor games, reading books, teaching, mentoring, music, and volunteering

 

6. Get your health checkups done at prescribed intervals and follow suggested treatment and recommended activities faithfully

 

7. Let go of anxiety and stressful situations

 

8. Do not indulge in multi-tasking

 

9. Join support groups to share and learn from others’ experiences.

 

 

Note:

 

You are permitted to share, distribute, print, or reproduce this article for private use with proper citation of the source. The article is a part of our service to fellow human beings as a means of health education and awareness enhancement to minimize dependence on healthcare

 

Dr Vinay Kumar

Senior Consultant Dermatologist

vnykmrrr123@gmail.com

www.yourskinmyconcern.com

+91-93 199 299 00

 

 

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