January 06, 2012 – January is Alzheimer’s Disease Month in Canada. Indeed, the Ministry of Health wishes to sensitize the population to this disease which frightens a large number of people.
Currently, 500,000 Canadians have a degenerative mental illness such as Alzheimer’s, and of these, 72% are women. In addition, in 2010, there were 35.6 million people living with dementia worldwide.
For the occasion, a remembrance walk will be organized in Canada at the end of January. The Ministry of Health also recommends adopting a healthy lifestyle and seeing a doctor regularly in order to reduce the risk of developing this disease.
It should be remembered that Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease which affects cognitive and memory faculties.
Contrary to popular belief, memory loss is not the only symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. The other signs of this disease remain little known, which is why it is interesting to highlight a few:
- Short and long term memory loss
- Difficulties in maintaining dialogue and passage from one subject to another without logical connection
- Aphasia, i.e. the partial or total loss of the ability to communicate through language
- Difficulty performing simple everyday tasks
- Loss of sense of direction
As the figures are alarming and the symptoms remain too little known, awareness is essential. In fact, habits must be changed now, if we want to be able to age in good health.
Anaïs Lhôte – PasseportSante.net
Sources:
www.sc-hc.gc.ca
www.canadian-nurse.com
