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Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 19, 2015: Dubai Hospital held today a campaign to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease as part of the ongoing global brain awareness week.
Dubai Health Authority's #smart_clinic was held at the premises of Dubai Hospital to raise awareness about Alzheimer's disease. Information was disseminated to more than 65000 followers on the Authority's twitter page(DHA_Dubai).
Alzheimer's is a progressive disease of the brain that impairs memory, planning, judgment and ability to function independently.
Several topics were discussed at today's #smart_clinic. These included ways to decrease or delay the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, early warning signs, treatment options, ways to manage day-to-day activities and methods to keep patients with Alzheimer's as independent as possible.
Dr Beyla Zuberi, consultant in internal medicine at Dubai Hospital, said: “There is a need to raise awareness about Alzheimer's and other dementias because lack of awareness leads to late diagnosis which means no access to treatment which is needed to slow or delay the progression of the disease. It also means poor understanding and unrealistic expectations among family members because both the patient and the family are unaware of the condition.
“ It is also critically important for people to be aware of the disease because they can decrease their risk of developing the disease or at least postpone the onset of the disease.
Jumana Fikree, Senior Specialist Registrar, internal medicine department at Dubai Hospital, said:“There are ways to delay or decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. You should keep your mind active by doing puzzles, crosswords, working, reading etc., increasing your level of physical activity is also important; even in the elderly, simple activities such as walking for 30 minutes a day is beneficial. Increasing your level of social interaction, ensuring you follow a healthy diet that is rich in fruits and vegetables, controlling your vascular risk factors such as blood pressure, blood sugar, decreasing your cholesterol and refraining from smoking are key factors.”
Fikree said in addition to taking preventive steps, people also need to be aware of signs of the disease. “Usually the first signs of the disease are memory problems, mainly affecting short term memory. Patients will still remember their childhood but are likely to forget recent events such as appointments, names of people they met and may repeatedly ask the same questions, misplace objects etc. Other signs include disorientation, and they may not aware of the date, date, year etc. They also tend to develop speech and language problems where they recognise names of the objects but will not be able to name them.”
“As the disease progresses patients have difficulty in concentration, their attention span decreases, they begin to find it difficult to follow conversations and perform complex tasks. Over time this leads to behavioural difficulties such as irritability, depression, mood swings and an inability to perform day-to-day tasks independently.
Naeel Mohammad, Senior Specialist Registrar, internal medicine department at Dubai Hospital, said “The biggest risk factor for developing Alzheimer's is age. However, so many family members do not recognise the first signs of this disease because the symptoms are similar to those associated with normal ageing.
However, the difference is that with Alzheimer's disease the symptoms progress until it starts to affect day-to-day life. It is very uncommon in people below the age of 60 years to develop the disease. As many as 50 per cent of people above the age of 85 years have some degree of dementia.”
Mohammad added : “Medications can only slow the pace of deterioration and therefore coping strategies and behavioural therapies are the cornerstone in dealing with this disease. The role of caregivers and healthcare professionals is pivotal for timely diagnose and management of this condition. Emotional, and social support for patients and family members is very essential so that we can better serve patients with this condition.”
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