Last Updated | July 9, 2024
June is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. According to an estimate, there are more than 5 million Alzheimer patients in the USA.
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
Alzheimer is one of the most common types of dementia. The disease affects the patients’ ability to think, speak, remember and behavior. Alzheimer accounts for over 50% of all cases of dementia, which makes it one of the most lethal and prevailing types of diseases, which is also one of the leading causes of deaths in the USA.
Alzheimer’s gets worst gradually and continuously for patients until they are no longer able to complete even basic daily tasks. The Alzheimer start is mostly mild, where the patient’s memory becomes affected slightly, however, over time the disease gets severe, leaving the patient utterly unaware of his/her surrounding, as well as, compromise his/her conversation ability. Once the disease has reached the advanced stages (symptoms become noticeable), the patient has an average of eight years left for survival, however, with the right treatment and variety of other health factors patients’ can survive for as long as 20 years.
While people over 65 years are more vulnerable to develop Alzheimer’s disease, there is an age limit and every year thousands of younger patients also develop Alzheimer’s disease.
Is There a Treatment for Alzheimer’s?
Currently, there are no treatments or a cure for Alzheimer’s. However, certain treatments can slow down the progression of the disease. Scientists and researchers are consistently looking for an advanced cure to treat this disease.
What are the Symptoms of Alzheimer’s?
Knowing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s is one of the crucial nodes in fighting against the disease and raising awareness. Some of the common symptoms for the disease include:
- Memory Loss
- Trouble Planning or Solving Problems
- Confusion with Time or Place
- Misplacing Things & Unable to Retrace Steps
- Mood & Personality Changes
How to help people with Alzheimer’s?
While there is no cure for the Alzheimer disease, it is certainly possible to slow down the progression of the disease and help your loved ones to live through this disease with relative ease:
Maintain Daily Routine
Patients dealing with Alzheimer prefer to have a well-defined daily routine that helps them to perform daily tasks without much confusion
Don’t overstimulate
Alzheimer’s affects a patient’s ability to understand things and thereby, it is important to keep simple communication with them. Try to say one thing at a time, so the patient is able to understand it well without much difficulty
Be compassionate
Patients dealing with Alzheimer’s often have to face harsh treatments for no fault of their own, which further worsens the disease. Thereby, it’s important to reassure the patients of your care and love. Use reassuring sentences like “I am here for you”, would make them feel safe and at ease.
Don’t Yell
It is understandable for people to get frustrated if asked for the same information, again and again, however, just remember how the patient must feel for himself in this condition. Be mindful that it’s the disease that’s degrading their ability to remember or communicate and be calm when talking to them.
Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month Activities
There are various activities that are planned for Alzheimer’s month awareness by professional associations. During these activities, doctors and researchers make aware of the people for the symptoms, treatment, and coping with the disease.
A memory walk is typical to raise awareness for the disease, as well as, a means to raise funding for the research for the treatment of disease. People who aren’t able to make it to walk can also contribute towards the research and treatment of the disease. You can also get in touch with the institutions dealing with the disease and make yourself available there to help patients in need.
The NEURO Plan – A mobile app initiative for brain health
The NEURO Plan by Brain Initiative LLC is a premium program led by Dr. Dean and Dr. Ayesha Sherzai; who are Co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program.
Folio3 was the preferred partner for Brain Initiative LLC, which was able to come up with a customized Digital Health System – The NEURO Plan.
The app was developed in compliance with the HIPAA standards with an interactive UI/UX, making it super intuitive for the app users to use it on a daily basis. The NEURO plan encompass the five lifestyle behaviors that are most crucial for sustained and optimized brain health.
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