World Alzheimer's Day: Expert tells WION how to take care of Alzheimer's patient at home

Every year on September 21, World Alzheimer's Day is observed globally to raise awareness and address the common stigma that surrounds Alzheimer-related dementia.

Dementia is not a specific disease but is a state in which a person suffers a continuous decline in thinking, behavioural and social skills. These symptoms affect a person's ability to function independently.

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia. This disease is a progressive neurological disorder, that impairs memory and other mental functions. It causes the brain to shrink and the brain cells to die.

On World Alzheimer's Day, WION spoke to a neurosurgeon, who explained the best possible ways to take care of Alzheimer's patients at home.

From his personal and professional experiences, Dr Nishant Shanker Yagnick, who is a senior consultant of neurosurgery at the Manipal Hospitals, Gurugramshared some unique ways of taking care of an Alzheimer's patient.

He said, "Taking care of Alzheimer's patients can be a very difficult and tricky problem."

"For many years I have professionally and personally faced the challenge of taking care of someone with his unique set of problems," said Dr Yagnick. He mentionedthat he tookcare of his grandfather, who was an Alzheimer's patient.

Identity card

He said that the first thing you need to know is that a patient of Alzheimer's, even early Alzheimer's, can "forget where they live, who they are, and become lost". It is not uncommon that a patient of Alzheimer's can wander out onto the street and be lost from the family which is a very sad event.

"The number one advice given to all patients is: that they should have ideally a necklace with steel tags, just like we manufacture in Army, which has the patient's name, contact number, and address," he said.

Community support

The second thing you can do is you can make the surroundings of the patient (watchman, members of the society, etc) understand the patient's problem. Any time they see the patient doing something that can be dangerous for their health, they can call for help.

"Alzheimer's patients will fight a lot, they can become very aggressive because even though they lose their memory, they don't change their moods. And that's why they get very frustrated if someone tries to stop them from doing something. And that's why community support is absolutely essential to take care of a patient of Alzheimer's," Dr Yagnick added.

Puzzles and games

He explained that in the later stage of Alzheimer's, the patients just don't lose their memory, they also lose the ability to make new memories quickly, so their learning is reduced. "It's very usefulto make sure that such patients get stimulated using puzzles, games, online messages, photographs of their past days and present days, and photographs of what is happening in the world to keep up with current affairs," he noted.

Normal treatment

He said one should not think that Alzheimer's patients wouldn't remember anything and so one should not take care of them. "Treat them as if they are absolutely normal. Make them sit at the breakfast table, and lunch table," said the doctor.

He suggested, "Talk to them about world affairs, talk to them about their day, your day and make sure that you show them pictures because visual memory is good as compared to verbal memory. So, show them pictures of what's happening in the world."

While concluding, Dr Yagnick said, "Believe me, these things can slow the progress ordelay the ultimate effect that Alzheimer's patients have and in the end, you want the person to feel that they have an absolutely normal life as much as possible."

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