Awareness about Alzheimer's

On September 22, the hall of St Thomas Syrian Orthodox Church in Malad was filled with the chatter and laughter of a vibrant crowd—a mix of senior citizens and youths.

People had gathered there for the common purpose of attending an awareness programme on Alzheimer’s presented by Silver Innings Foundation, an NGO for the silvers, in association with Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), Greater Mumbai Chapter. “We decided to organise the programme since September is the World Alzheimer’s month and got in touch with ARDSI for that.

We promoted the event by announcing about it in the church. We had also put up banners in the area, so that the message reached a wider audience. We are glad that it turned out to be so successful,” said Tony Varghese, secretary of Orthodox Christian Youth Movement, a separate wing of the church that organised the programme.

After a small skit, presented by students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), on the problems faced by Alzheimer’s patients in their day-to-day lives, there was an interactive session with the audience, where the latter were made to practice laughter therapy and clapping therapy, and shown a presentation on how to prevent the disease, ways to deal with elders suffering from it, and also a basic test to check symptoms of the disease.

Students of TISS were also very happy to participate. “It was a pleasure being a part of the event. The students, who are interning with the NGO, presented the skit in an easily comprehensible manner for all to understand,” said Manjushaa Battle, field coordinator, TISS.

“It was great to see a religious institution organise such a programme in its premises. The turnover was good and it was a good takeaway for the audience,” said Shailesh Mishra, general secretary of ARDSI, Greater Mumbai Chapter and founder of the NGO.

Alzheimer’s is a non-curable, progressive brain disease, where the patient tends to forget about his day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, there is a lack of awareness about the disease as most consider it a ‘western’ disease. This lack of awareness about the disease has in fact led to an increase in the number of wandering cases, where patients suffering from the disease go out for their regular activities, never to come back.

“We decided to celebrate Alzheimer’s month by organising programmes in various institutions in the western suburbs.

This will include street plays, presentations, and awareness campaigns,” said Mishra. On September 20, ARDSI organised an interactive talk and street play at Asha Kiran Senior Citizens Facility, YWCA in Andheri (W). Students of Nirmala Niketan participated in the activity and the senior citizens attending the programme had a lot of fun.

“It was amazing to see all 60-70 women senior citizens dance together with us on the Lungi Dance number. In fact, they were enjoying so much that they did not even want to leave for lunch. Dance is a great brain-stimulating exercise,” said Mishra. Today, they have organised an interactive talk and street play at A1 Snehanjali, Silver Innings Assisted Living Elder Care Home, in Nalasopara (W), between 4 pm to 5.30 pm.

On the other hand, students of SVT college, SNDT University in Juhu, are busy preparing for their two-hour long Alzheimer’s awareness programme, both for the youth and the senior citizens. They will be presenting four skits depicting the stages of progression of the disease. “We will focus on issues related to adulthood and our department believes in conducting community programmes.

Moreover, we decided to go for it as our college has a specific course related to adulthood. We are distributing pamphlets so that more people turn up for the event and myths on the disease are busted,” said Dr Suja Koshy, HOD, Human Development, SVT College of Home Sciences.

What is Alzheimer’s?
1. Alzheimer’s is a common form of dementia. Almost 50 per cent of people suffering from dementia are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

2. Depending on the severity of the disease, and the lifestyle of a person, he/she can survive for 4 to 12 years

3. The causes can range from brain stroke, insomnia, cardiac problems and blood pressure, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.

4. Five per cent of the cases are hereditary.

Prevention is better than cure
1. Go for regular health checkups after the age of 40.

2. Stay physically active

3. Keep your mind engaged by solving Sudoku, playing scrabble, and chess.  

4. Include food that is good for the brain, such as Brahmi supplements.

5. “Love and care provided by the family is the best medicine for an Alzheimer’s patient,” said renowned psychiatrist Dr Yusuf Matcheswalla.