Dementia is a term used to describe a variety
of brain disorders that affect memory, thinking, behaviour and emotion. The
disease knows no social, economic, or ethnic boundaries and usually comes with
warning signs, namely, increasing memory loss, difficulty performing familiar
tasks, problems with language, disorientation of time and place, misplacing
things, changes in mood, etc.
Dr Amit Dias, Asst professor at the
department of Preventive Medicine at Goa Medical College and the Chairperson of
Sangath informs that, in Goa, we come across all forms of dementia of which,
Alzheimer’s is the most common. While there is no cure for most causes of
dementia at present, there is a great deal of advice, support and information
available from Alzheimer associations throughout the world. Five simplified risk
reduction strategies that have been observed and highly recommended are looking
after your heart, being physically active, following a healthy diet,
challenging your brain and enjoying social activity.
The care arrangements for people with
dementia in India are in a nascent stage and lot more needs to be done. Dr Dias
has been working on the subject of dementia research for the last fifteen
years. He currently heads the 10/66 dementia research groups for India. He
emphasises that we need to take cognisance of the current trends and develop
services such as memory clinics, home care services and day care and respite
centres to help individuals get the necessary diagnosis and support.
Sangath in association with the newly
formed Dennis Jarvis Memorial Trust provides home based services for caregivers
who often bear the brunt of the disease. This is a service provided free of
cost and is modeled around the award winning programme developed by the
Dementia Society of Goa for providing non pharmacological psychosocial support
to the family.
