People aged above 70 more prone to Alzheimer’s disease: experts

Elderly people, especially those aged above 70, are more at risk of being affected by Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and eventually impairs the ability to carry out even the smallest tasks, say experts.

“The scenario in India is more or less similar to the one in the west. While old people are more vulnerable to be affected by Alzheimer’s, in some cases genetic factor also plays a role,” president of Indian Psychiatric Society Dr G Prasad Rao said.

Mr Rao says, sometimes vascular dementia is mixed with Alzheimer’s, but the two are different ailments. Doctors and health organisations globally are today marking the World Alzheimer’s Day.

Vascular dementia

“Vascular dementia is caused by an impaired supply of blood to the brain, such as may be caused by a series of small strokes or hypertension.

“As per a study conducted a few years ago, people aged above 65 form 2 per cent of the population, those above 70 years 3—5 per cent and people above 75 years roughly 6-10 per cent,” he said.

According to World Alzheimer’s Report released by the Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI), ten countries were home to over a million people with dementia in 2015 including China (9.5 million), the US (4.2 million), India (4.1 million), Japan (3.1 million), among other countries.

“Global health crisis”

Delhi-based senior consultant psychiatrist at Cosmos Institute of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences, Dr Sunil Mittal, says “World over, 44 million people are living with dementia of some form, with over 4 million Indians contributing to this figure, making dementia a global health crisis.”

“Studies show that while 66 per cent of the population living with dementia are from low and middle-income countries, less than 10 per cent of research is carried out in these populations, showing a gap in addressing healthcare needs in dealing with dementia,” he said.

He says, dementia is an umbrella term for a condition in which the brain shows an overall decline in functioning, in various domains including memory, attention, cognition and higher mental functions. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Early signs

“Memory disturbances especially for recent events, difficulty in learning new tasks, difficulty in recalling names of people or objects may be early signs of Alzheimer’s disease,” Mr Mittal said.

Mr Rao says, unlike in vascular dementia, in Alzheimer’s “people suffer hallucinations and even forget to perform the smallest of tasks like sitting on a chair or wearing clothes.”

“It is exceptional for Alzheimer’s to occur before age 60.

The incidence and prevalence increase exponentially with age, essentially doubling in prevalence every five years after the age of 65,” IMA president-elect Dr K. K. Aggarwal said. - PTI

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