Health & Wellness

All you Need to Know About Alzheimer

Dr. Jacob Roy Kuriakose, Chairman, Alzheimer’s Disease International, explains the illness.

It is not just about losing track of the car keys or forgetting to turn off the tap. That can happen with old age and is common in menopausal women. It is about much more serious issues like forgetting a colleague’s name, missing appointments at the dentist’s, calling up someone and not remembering the purpose of the call. Dr. Jacob Roy Kuriakose, Chairman, Alzheimer’s Disease International, helps us in understanding Alzheimer’s

What is dementia?

Dementia is a general term used to describe a disease of the brain, usually progressive, in which there is a disturbance in the higher cortical functions, including memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgment. The impairment of cognitive function is commonly accompanied and occasionally preceded by deterioration in emotional control, social behaviour or motivation.

Is Alzheimer’s disease the main cause of dementia?

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for nearly 60% of all dementias.  It is a degenerative disease of the brain usually affecting people after 65 years. Progressive loss of memory is one of the most important presenting symptoms. Other forms are vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and mixed dementia.

Does it only affect the elderly or are youngsters prone to it as well?

Dementia usually affects the elderly, but younger people also could be affected.  It could affect younger people in their 40s and 50s; this comes under early-onset Alzheimer’s.

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