Dementia, a silent epidemic

Senior neurologist Dr B Chandra Sekhar Reddy delivered an awareness talk on neurological disorders in Hyderabad on Sunday

Forgetfulness of immediate and recent events, confusion for place, person and time, repeating the same thing again and again, impaired judgement and thinking capabilities and behavioural problems are suggestive of dementia, if they are inferring with day to day to activities and lasting for six months. However, the main reason for dementia is age and certain unclear facts.

Early diagnosing will help in preventing the worsening of dementia by certain medications and cognitive therapy. So recognition of symptoms is very important. There are certain simple, easily treatable entities like Thyroid disorders, Electrolyte imbalances, B1, B12, B6 Vitamin deficiencies, certain brain related infection, if treated early, and they are curable with improvement of health facilities.

The life span of average Indian is increasing. So certain neurological disorders like Brain Stroke and Dementia are seen more and more. It is very important to recognize the symptoms of brain stroke, as Time is Brain, with every minute late treatment millions of neurons are permanently dead, so more the disability.

Anything which happens suddenly like sudden ouset weakness of hand/leg, change in speech, change in walking, loss of vision/double vision, think of Brain Stroke. If you reach hospital within 4 and half hours, a medicine called ‘tpa’ is given to break the clot and re establish the blood flow.

If block is there in a major blood vessel of brain, it can be removed by mechanical devices even upto 6 hours. Other than this, rest all medication to treat the stroke are only to prevent the next attack. Medication has to be used for life long. The main culprits for brain stroke are hypertension, diabetes, smoking, bad life styles, almost all are correctable.