As the number of people living with Dementia in India is expected to touch 7.6 million within the next 10 years, early detection is a key to ensure early treatment, experts have said here as they pointed out that Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia and accounts for over 60 per cent of cases of dementia.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) there are more than 55 million people living with dementia across the world, with a new case developing every 3 seconds.
However, despite being the 7th leading cause of death and a major cause of dependency amongst elderly, public awareness about early signs and symptoms of dementia remains incredibly low, says Dr Jayashree Dasgupta, Project Director and Co-Founder, Samvedna Senior Care.
Prof. (Dr.) RK Dhamija, Head of Neurology Department, Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi noted that national policies and programmes specifically targeting epilepsy, neuro infections, dementia and neuro-degenerative diseases need to be planned by the government. He also said that neurological diseases and mental disorders are becoming a serious public health crisis and are emerging as major challenges to health care systems across the world.
He was speaking at an event organized by the ASSOCHAM, as part of its ‘Illness to Wellness,’ campaign with an objective to cascade and raise awareness about Alzheimer’s disease (AD),Asserting that it is painful to see the loved ones not recognizing you, Dr Ritu Rana, Heading Mission-Health, HelpAge India Rana stated that while AD can be quite harsh to deal with, care together with love and affection can help the patients live with dignity.Sharing her views, Dr. Suvarna Alladi, Professor of Neurology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore wisdom termed dementia as a common brain disease among older people with loss of memory being a major problem which might lead to agitation, suspiciousness and other distressing behavioural problems.
