Alzheimer's Day is designated as World Alzheimer's Day on September 21 and the aim of Alzheimer's Day is to raise social awareness.
What is Alzheimer's?
Alzheimer's Day is designated to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease is a disease caused by the destruction of cells in the brain and the disconnection of cells from each other.
Alzheimer's disease is progressive. If it is not treated at the time of the first symptoms, it will continue to progress. Alzheimer's disease usually occurs at an advanced age. Alzheimer's disease can be seen due to the destruction of brain cells due to advanced age or due to different factors. The reason why Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed in the early stages is that forgetfulness is associated with advanced age (old age). Early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is very difficult because people use expressions such as 'he/she is too old, it is normal for him/her to forget' or 'he/she is already old'. In order to prevent this, an Alzheimer's Day was established for Alzheimer's disease in order to raise public awareness about Alzheimer's disease and September 21 was recognized as World Alzheimer's Day.
Alzheimer Symptoms
- Losing something (such as a phone, wallet, purse)
- Loss of sense of direction
- Confusion
- Difficulty in doing the work done
- Change in behavior and personality
- Difficulty understanding explanations
- Difficulty communicating
- Attention deficit
- Disruptions in sleep patterns
- Memory loss
- Difficulty speaking
- Difficulty understanding images
- Not taking care of personal hygiene
Alzheimer's Treatment
The most important factor in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is early diagnosis. If Alzheimer's disease is diagnosed at an early stage, its progression can be prevented. The aim in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease is to stop the progression of the disease and reduce its symptoms.
In this way, the individual can spend his/her life alone. However, in untreated advanced Alzheimer's disease, it is not possible for the individual to live alone. He/she must get help from someone. Drug treatment is applied to stop the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The drug recommended in treatment varies according to the stages of the disease.
What should the patient's relatives do?
- It may take time for relatives to accept the situation. However, in order to make progress in treatment, they should be positive and their approach to the patient should be like approaching and communicating with a baby.
- Alzheimer's patient should not be left alone. A suitable environment should be created for him/her at home and there should be someone who can help him/her. The reason for this may be that Alzheimer's patients cannot take care of their personal care, cannot provide their own nutrition, leave home unannounced and cannot return home.
- Keep in touch with the Alzheimer's patient and use simple sentences that they can understand.
- Last but not least, show your love to the patient, do not be cold, condemning and judgmental.