World Alzheimer’s Month: Kenyan mental health specialists answer questions on dementia
September is World Alzheimer’s Month, and Mental Health Kenya held a tweet chat on Monday to raise awareness and challenge the stigma around dementia.
CAPE TOWN, September 20 (ANA) – September is World Alzheimer’s Month, and Mental Health Kenya held a tweet chat on Monday to raise awareness and challenge the stigma around dementia.
The official theme for World Alzheimer’s Month is #KnowDementia #KnowAlzeimers, and it is only through a global effort that the stigma and misinformation surrounding dementia can be eliminated, wrote Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI).
The global federation of dementia and Alzheimer’s associations said the theme for this year’s World Alzheimer’s Month was centred on the power of knowledge.
Mental Health Kenya, a division of the Ministry of Health, heeded ADI’s call by launching a tweet chat on Monday, where Kenyan mental health specialists answered questions about the illness.
Every three seconds someone develops dementia, with more than 50 million people around the world suffering from the disease, a number that is estimated to triple in 29 years’ time.
What is dementia?
Consultant psychiatrist at Kenya’s health ministry Dr Mercy Karanja said during the Twitter session: “Dementia refers to a group of conditions presenting with symptoms such as loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life.”
Karanja explained that although dementia does affect older people more, it is not a normal part of ageing.
Psychologist Alliyya Abdi added: “Evidence suggests that when people with dementia and their families are well prepared and supported, initial feelings of shock, anger and grief are balanced by a sense of reassurance and empowerment.”
What are the most common types of dementia?
“Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia are the most common types of dementia and are responsible for up to 90% of cases of dementia,” Abdi wrote.
Karanja explains that Alzheimer’s accounts for 60% to 80% of cases and is caused by specific changes in the brain as a result of clumps of a protein called plaques and tangles.
Your risk for Alzheimer’s increases when a first-degree relative, such as a biological parent, is a victim of it.
Vascular dementia, on the other hand, “results from reduced blood flow to the brain, reducing the ability to supply your brain with the right amount of nutrition and oxygen it needs to perform thought processes effectively”, Abdi explained.
High cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and strokes are all risk factors for vascular dementia, Karanja wrote.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
