• Remember the time when you were young.....the time spent with your Grand parents? I'm sure you do remember how forgetful they were.....sometimes calling you with different names, sometimes forgetting their names and names of your parents, talking about their childhood friends and family members, living in the past while still being in the present, forgetting day, time or geographical locations of the house. And people telling you ....."Children and Elderlies are same Or Old age is just like another childhood".
  • Yes......You guess it right.We are going to talk about Dementia.Dementias are the most common causes of psychopathology in the elderly persons.And Dementia of Alzheimer's type accounts for about 60 person of old age dementias.

The hallmark of dementia is memory impairment.The pathology of the disease is of progressive nature.Patients have difficulty in remembering new information.Over a period of time, they may not recall their own important past personal informations.The onset is so insidious that family members have difficulty estimating when the impairment begin.

A variety of medications are available for this disease and they may diminish the symptoms and improve the quality of life of the patient but none of them halt the disease process.Psychotherapeutic intervention with the family members is a critical aspect of the treatment.Education and counselling about the nature of the illness help relatives to cope with the anger and puzzlement they experience while living with and facing the peculiar and disturbing behaviour of  their loved ones.Many of them may also need help in "grieving the loss of the patient who now behaves like a stranger rather than the person who they knew once."

Life style choices people make in early life can help people determine their health and vitality as they age.

Older adults have their unique nutrition needs.Choose  of foods include little to no added sugar, saturated fats, and sodium .The need to have enough protein throughout the day and to maintain muscle, try adding dairy, or fortified soy products along with beans, peas, and lentils to their meals.Dietician's plan may be needed as they are more prone to bone diseases, diabetes , Hypertension etc.Early detection of other medical ailment and treatment also needed in a disorder named "Alzheimer's disease".