Mental health is an issue for all of us yet it often remains hidden because of a stigma that persists in society. The more we know, however, the better we understand the issue.
As we get older we look forward to retirement, travel and new pursuits. We can look back at life's events and the endless memories they generated. For some of us, however, those memories may begin to fade and eventually disappear and worse.
Dementia refers to a group of degenerative brain diseases the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease. Others in the same category include Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia among others.
In Canada some 364,000 people over the age of 65 have dementia; Alzheimer's disease accounts for about two-thirds of these. In B.C. there are about 50,000 cases. The incidence of dementia increases with age. About one percent of people aged 65 to 74 are afflicted, seven percent of those 75 to 84, and 26 per cent of people 85 years or older.
Alzheimer's is a progressive neurological disease that affects the brain and its functions. It comes on very gradually starting with occasional memory lapses that do not feel very unusual.
"I'm just getting old," most will say. These become more frequent, leading to an inability to learn or remember anything new. At first it will be forgetting things week-to-week, then day-to-day and eventually minute-by-minute.
In this process skills are lost in more or less the reverse order they were learned: Handling money, choosing clothes, bathing, using the toilet, feeding one's self, walking and so forth. Eventually the brain forgets how to regulate bodily functions. Death comes from malnutrition, dehydration, infection or heart failure.
The social side of Alzheimer's disease can be even more devastating. Not recognizing family and friends, at first occasionally, then completely is difficult for both the person and the people nearest to them.
The challenge facing someone with Alzheimer's disease includes "losing" the people around them, and losing independence. As they realize this is happening, depression can set in and the person may withdraw. The embarrassment, powerlessness and frustrations of dementia can be overpowering. The person may even develop delusions.
Alzheimer's disease and related dementia cannot be cured. They cannot be reversed or stopped in their progression. The interval from the earliest symptoms to death ranges from two to 20 years, with most cases being seven to 10 years.
The medications and treatment used for cases of Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia will not cure. The best we can hope for is to reduce or treat symptoms and to help the patient and family through the course of the illness with less discomfort and more dignity.
Dr. Paul Martiquet is the Medical Health Officer for the Sea to Sky.
