New Delhi: On World Alzheimer's Day on Saturday, experts said that factors that prevent blood pressure (BP), diabetes and obesity can reduce the risk of dementia by up to 60 per cent.
World Alzheimer's Day is celebrated every year on 21 September to raise awareness about dementia and Alzheimer's disease and to increase people's understanding about these diseases.
The theme of this year is “Time to act on dementia, time to act on Alzheimer's”.
Alzheimer's disease is a braindebilitating, neurodegenerative disorder that slowly destroys a person's memory, language, thought and the ability to perform even the simplest tasks.
It mainly affects people above 65 years of age and is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly.
This is one of the most common causes of dementia or loss of memory. The number of Alzheimer's patients is constantly increasing in India, although it is not alarming. This disease is affecting the elderly more, but there are signs of its increase in the younger population as well.
“To prevent dementia, it is important to work on the risk factors for dementia and if we are successful in this, we can reduce dementia by 60 per cent,” Dr Manjari Tripathi, head of the neurology department at AIIMS, told .
What are the preventable risk factors?
On this question, the doctor says, “Keep blood pressure and diabetes under control, do not smoke or drink alcohol and reduce body weight or obesity level. There should also be no insomnia. Get insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea treated, because memory can also deteriorate due to poor sleep.”
In addition, irregular routines, including not working, not exercising, or not learning new skills in old age, being inactive, sitting in a chair, or spending too much time on the couch can also cause harm.
A research published on Alzheimer's and dementia shows that 7.4 percent of people aged 60 years and above in India suffer from dementia. This means that about 8 crore 80 lakh people in India are suffering from it. This data was collected in India between 2017 and 2020.
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– / Written By Top News Bulletin
Image Credit: KhasKhabar.