World Alzheimer’s day: City’s first ‘elderly’ store to help track patients, opens on October 17

Pune Pune’s Chaitanya mental healthcare centre and Alzheimer’s and related disorders society of India (ARDSI), Pune chapter, will launch the city’s first ‘elderly’ store on October 17.

“To help track missing patients, we plan to start a store which will be located in Aundh and will also be online. To help find patients who often go missing, that leads to a panic attack among family members, we will make a tracking system available in our store. It will be a wearable tracker which will help the family find its lost or missing member suffering from this disease. The tracker can be worn around the neck, or as a band on the hand or can be installed in a cane,” said Rony George, founder and director, of the Chaitanya centre. Other than trackers, we will also have special wheelchairs, adult diapers, walkers, etc,” he added.

“There are many such stores in western countries, but with the growing figures of this disease, we feel it is the need of the hour to start such an initiative in our city where elderly population is only on the rise due to increase in longevity,” he said.

George further added that the store will be launched on October 17 because that is the day when the Chaitanya centre was established.

On today being observed as World Alzheimer’s day, George said, “Training and sensitising caregivers, especially nurses, is extremely important. Most of them often get confused and scared of how one can handle a person who is diagnosed of Alzheimer’s. Hence, proper training is needed and handling patients with this disease becomes important. Besides that, nobody in Pune city has conducted a study to find out an estimated figure of people or population suffering from this disease and hence, it also becomes important for all of us to create more awareness related to Alzheimer’s as it can affect anybody.”

Agreeing to the same, Dr Nasli Ichchaporia, chief of neurology, Jehangir hospital, added, “We lack figures of number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s in Pune, but awareness remains the key; besides this, changes in genes or genetic predisposition too is one of the causes behind Alzheimer’s which leads to degeneration of brain functions. It leads to loss of memory, judgement and ability to function and leads to dementia gradually. Around 10 to 15 per cent of the cases are because of genetic predisposition as well which people and caregivers need to be aware of.”

Dementia cases rising, experts rue lack of patient data

According to the World health organisation (WHO), globally, 50 million people have dementia, with nearly 60 per cent of those living in low- and middle-income countries. Every year, there are nearly 10 million new cases and the estimated proportion of the general population aged 60 and over with dementia at a given time is between five and eight per 100 people. The total number of people with dementia is projected to reach 82 million in 2030 and 152 in 2050, estimated WHO.

This was seconded by senior neurology experts working in the city, who also stressed that the number of dementia cases have gone up over the last few years and one of the commonest type, that is Alzheimer’s, is getting reported largely. Dr Nasli Ichchaporia, former president of Maharashtra association of neurologists and chief of neurology at Jehangir Hospital, said, “Cases of Alzheimer’s are on the rise. It is mainly seen after a person hits 65 years of age or so.”

He added, “In fact, there are certain cases who came to us as early as in their 40s and 50s. However, such cases are rare, but the shift in age can be seen and is worrisome.”

He further stressed that Alzheimer’s which is a common type of dementia is not reversible and, “This is the scariest part, but the onset can be delayed. People need to be active, brain functioning is extremely important and people after retirement should continue keeping their brains active. One must maintain good health, good diet, exercise regularly, keep a social bond, keep meeting people and maintain family time.”

Not only this, there are various causes too that leads to Alzheimer’s and one major risk factor is air pollution which not many talk about. “People think air pollution only causes lung diseases and hits the lungs directly, but not many know that it also leads to degeneration of the brain cells as blood circulation to the brain too gets affected due to the polluted air we breathe. There are many chemicals in air pollution that affects the brain and leads to damage. Accumulation of chemicals leads to strokes, loss of blood flow, etc; and gradually leads to the hampered brain functioning,” he said.

Talking about the symptoms of the disease Ichchaporia said, “Forgetfulness, not finding things, not able to calculate, not being as sharp as one was. Expert advice, however, is sought only after the symptoms are worsened hence, it is suggested that people not only seek advice early, but be aware of their deteriorating health once they hit 60 or above.”

Similarly, Dr Hemant Sant, past president of Indian neurology society of Pune said, “Incidence of Alzheimer’s is on the rise in India and another important risk factor is increase in life expectancy. People who do not use their brains for doing new things are more prone to develop Alzheimer’s and hence, we need to have a motto ‘use it or lose it’ this world Alzheimer’s day.”

Besides this, when asked about the approximate rise or cases in OPD, both experts cited that there is a dearth of study or survey due to poor awareness levels, hence, exact figures of number of cases India or in Pune cannot be quoted.

Other than air pollution, increase in longevity and lack of brain activity, another major risk factor cited by an expert is hypertension. “The increasing cases of this lifestyle disorder may lead to Alzheimer’s,” said Dr Bhushan Nilkanth Joshi, neurologist, from Columbia Asia Hospital adding further, “Hypertension or prolonged blood pressure can cause damage to the brain and hence lead to a progressive Alzheimer’s disease that affects the cognitive functioning impacting quality of life.”

He said, “According to estimates one in every three Indians has high blood pressure and this number is only going to rise by 2020. Around 14 per cent of men between the age group of 15 and 49 and eight per cent of women in Pune are suffering from hypertension and hence, are on the risk of developing Alzheimer’s in their life time as a progressive disease.”

“Also as per the national health profile of 2018, as many as 60 per cent of those who have hypertension are unaware of their condition while 42 per cent suffer from uncontrolled hypertension. To prevent the disease, lifestyle modifications remain important like maintaining healthy weight and body mass index (BMI), healthy diet, quitting smoking, and reducing stress,” Dr Joshi said.

Day’s events

World Alzheimer’s day events

Workshop for nurses and caregivers by

Where: Chaitanya mental health care centre, Khadi machine chowk, Kondhwa

When: 10.30 am

International Longevity Centre will host talk by Sailesh Mishra, on ‘dementia and understanding it’

Where: Maharashtra technical education society’s auditorium, off Karve road

When: 5 pm