September the month of Alzheimer’s comes to a conclusion after a month long awareness campaign but this year has also seen the youth participate eagerly.
“This year we have had participation from young doctors and volunteers who came to work together in targeting younger people. We have been also using social media, and producing e-leaflets, short videos and webinars, we conducted programmes in collaboration with professionals from Qatar as well as had caregivers come and share their experiences’’, said Dr Hamed al Sinawi, Chairman of Alzheimer’s Society.
“From Qatar we had a young patient who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and he shared his emotions and the reaction of his family when he informed the family about his health. Early detection can help the patient and the caregivers’’, he pointed out.
There have been cases of Alzheimer’s in the late 20s as well as 40s and 50s.
“This is a type of Alzheimer’s disease known as ‘early onset’. Usually the risk of Alzheimer’s is after 65 and at 70 the risk is higher. But the younger patients usually have strong family history of the disease — either the parents have it, but the tricky part is the symptoms might differ’’, he said.
Generally a patient with Alzheimer’s might be forgetful, repeat themselves, might misplace their keys or glasses, but the younger ones might have difficulty in using language.
“Often they might forget words, have uncoordinated movements and at times have unexplained falls, have difficulty in organising their planning, or get lost in familiar places. Driving can become a challenge. Sometimes such people might be still at work and people around might take note that they are making a series of mistakes and if he is working in critical jobs he might be putting himself in danger. This would all mean that he might have to leave job and stay at home. This can be very challenging for the family’’, pointed out Dr Hamed.
“We had a case in Oman where the son was in the 11th grade but he had to play the role of the father to his father who was suffering from Alzheimer’s. He had to take special care when they went for their morning walks because the father could smash car windows if he happened to see his own shadow on the glass. That is one thing about Alzheimer’s, at certain stages the patients might not recognise their own image. They might think it is someone else staring at them. This is what we refer to as role reversal’’, he noted.
Genetic therapy is too early in Alzheimer’s treatment. The best way to prevent this, according to Dr Hamed, is to exercise, have a healthy diet, avoid fast food or cholesterol inducing food, have social connections, talk to people and at the same time avoid air pollution, hypertension, diabetes and depression.
“One must avoid head injuries so if you are cycling wear helmets. As they say, ‘if you don’t use it, you will lose it — use the brain’, reading is a good exercise and having discussions with people. What is important is that you must start the good habits early as there is no point in trying to read at 50. It has to be something incorporated into your lifestyle, making an effort to exercise for at least half an hour and avoiding junk food can make a difference’’, he said.
What would be the case for introverts?
“Introverts also have ways to stimulate their brain such as reading instead of passively watching the television screen or media platforms. Instead, having a discussion with people can be highly effective for the brain and mind.
