Alzheimer’s Diagnosis: Doctors Urge Early Detection & Social Connection
Navigating the Storm: One Woman’s journey Caring for a Mother with Alzheimer’s and the urgent Call for Early Diagnosis
Panaji, India – For Donna Noronha, caring for her fiercely self-reliant mother, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2017, has been a journey of resilience and adaptation. Like many families facing this challenging disease, the early signs were subtle and easily dismissed.
“She was irritable, constantly losing things and blaming people around her,” Noronha recounts. “But we never thought much of it until things got out of hand.” Her mother’s persistent trips to the market, driven by the delusion of an empty house, highlighted the growing need for intervention.
Noronha found herself walking a tightrope, striving to respect her mother’s independence while discreetly managing her affairs. She took the initiative to educate local shopkeepers and vendors about her mother’s condition, requesting their assistance in navigating possibly difficult situations.
The emotional toll has been notable. “The abuse can get terrible,” Noronha admits, “but I remind myself that this is the disease taking over my mother and that I must disassociate myself from the feelings of hurt she throws towards me. It’s like having to navigate a storm.”
A lifeline for Noronha has been connecting with other caregivers. Sharing experiences and realizing she wasn’t alone in her struggles provided much-needed relief and support.
Dr. Teresa Ferreira, head of the neurology department at Goa Medical College (GMC), emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals with Alzheimer’s to maintain their independence. “The idea is not to do everything for the person with Alzheimer’s out of goodness. This only adds to their decline. One needs to give them the right support and simultaneously occurring, keep them physically and functionally independent,” she explains.
The GMC sees an average of five new dementia patients each week, with Alzheimer’s accounting for four of those cases. Alarmingly, 60% of these patients arrive with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s.Dr. Ferreira attributes this to the common misconception that dementia symptoms are simply a natural part of aging and the belief that little can be done.
“Most get diagnosed when the disease has already substantially advanced as the signs of dementia are frequently enough dismissed by family members as being a natural process of ageing and because they feel nothing can be done about it,” she states.
Early diagnosis is crucial. “When Alzheimer’s is diagnosed early, patients can be helped to function independently for a few more years,” Dr. Ferreira stresses. Furthermore,managing related health conditions like blood pressure,diabetes,and lipid profiles is vital.”Uncontrolled sugars and blood pressure along with Alzheimer’s puts the patient at higher risk of small strokes which tends to accelerate the progression of the disease.”
Dr. Peter Castelino, Director of COOJ Mental Health Foundation, echoes the importance of early intervention and highlights the role of social interaction. (Article truncated due to source material limit.)