World Alzheimer’s Day – 21st September 2021
World Alzheimer’s Day is celebrated on 21st September every year in order to raise the awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, is a progressive brain disease which results in loss of memory and thinking skills. It destroys the brain cells resulting in memory loss, erratic behavior, and loss of body functions. This disease usually starts slowly but gets worse with time, presenting as difficulty in remembering the recent events, forgets the names of people like old friends, addresses, even names of the roads and other things, eventually resulting in the inability to look after daily activities and basic needs. Alzheimer’s disease mostly affects elderly people. The exact cause of Alzheimer’s disease is not yet known. Certain complex events occurring in the brain appear to cause this disease.
Every 65 seconds, someone develops Alzheimer’s disease. At current rates, experts believe the number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s will quadruple to as many as 16 million by the year 2050. Alzheimer’s disease is often called a family disease because of the chronic stress of watching a loved one slowly decline affects everyone. 5.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s.
The theme for the 2021 campaign is Know Dementia, Know Alzheimer’s and all about the power of knowledge.
So let’s shine a light on the warning signs of dementia and the importance of a timely diagnosis to prevent the occurrence of Alzheimer’s.
Warning Signs of Alzheimer’s:
- Changes in mood
- Forgetting the recent information
- Challenges in solving problems
- Difficulty in completing familiar tasks at home or work
- Confusion with time or place
- Difficulty in reading, judging distance and recognizing colour
- Losing the track of date and time
- Misplacing the things
Withdrawal from social and leisure activities
