Alzheimer's disease unknown to baby boomers
January 11th 2011 21:32
Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan , Alzheimer Society of Canada
[Wristwatches in sugar bowls, forgetting appointments often, getting lost in familiar neighbourhoods are examples the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan want people to be familiar with.
Joanne Michael, the program services manager for the Alzheimer Society of Saskatchewan, explained there’s more to the disease than memory loss.
“Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disorder that affects memory, judgement, reasoning, behaviour and personality. It’s not a normal part of aging. It is a fatal disease,” she said, adding there are several warning signs early-on.
After a survey conducted by the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the group found that several baby boomers didn’t know the common warning signs of the disease. Nearly one-quarter (23 per cent) of the 1,006 people surveyed didn’t know any of the symptoms, and half of the group could only identify memory-loss as a warning sign. Most were familiar with the inability to recognize a familiar face and object as a symptom, but less than half of them knew about other changes in later stages, like hallucinations and a total dependency on others for basic care. The group was also unfamiliar with controllable Alzheimer’s risk factors like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and chronic depression.
Michael said it’s alarming that so few people near the age of 65, when the odds of developing the disease double every five years, know so little about it.
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