HT Spotlight: Missing memory

When Sanjeev Thakur’s wife started behaving strangely, he didn’t know whose help to seek. His affectionate spouse was gradually becoming a different person. She had forgotten important dates. The duo celebrated their marriage anniversary but she was clueless about what they were celebrating.

It started a few years ago, when Aneeta Thakur had to put double the effort to perform daily chores because little things confused her. When it started affecting her daily life, Sanjeev was advised to consult a doctor. Aneeta was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, a group of brain disorders that cause the loss of intellectual and social skills.

dementia, but we have interventions and to a certain extend we can retard the process of progression to severe dementia,” says Dr Grover. Doctors say that in years to come, they will have some genetic markers and blood tests, which will help in identifying people predisposed to dementia.

Preventive measures

“We need to understand that that we have to decrease the risk factors and increase the protective factors like education, physical activity, Mediterranean diet, cognitive exercises, more robust social interactions and less alcohol intake. All these factors inhibit dementia,” says Grover.

Stressing on prevention, doctors advise activities such as mind games, puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku etc to keep the brain active. “We advise people to strike off simple words in a newspaper so that their concentration improves. It is known as letter cancellation,” said a doctor, adding, “If somebody’s memory is failing, we always advice them to keep a pocket notebook, which they can use as a reminder.”

Dr Savita Malhotra says the elderly must take care of their physical and mental health. “They must take nutritious diet and indulge in some physical activity. They must learn new things, use technology, memorise things, solve puzzles, and keep their brain active.” Dr Malhotra also underlines the importance of social interactions and social work. “Elders should not live an isolated life, they must pursue their hobbies,” she adds.

Role of caregivers

Though many new treatments are under evaluation, there have been no concrete advances . As Alzheimer’s often manifests in behavioural and psychological symptoms such as aggression, irritability, delusions, hallucination, and depression et al, doctors prescribe medications to manage these symptoms.

Dr Subhash Das, a psychiatrist at GMCH-32, says since medicines are not very effective, the current emphasis is on training caregivers, who play a very crucial role. “They have to be on their toes to look after the patients.”

The caregivers are given a set of guidelines, which include telling the patients frequently about the places and things around them, thereby making their surroundings more predictable for them. “Providing assistance to them in all kinds of daily activities, making them socialise, reminding them of older memories they can relate to, all these are simple measures that can be taken by caregivers,” says Dr Das.

First Published: Sep 20, 2018 11:26 IST