Are you guilty of believing these myths around dementia

"None of us wants to be reminded that dementia is random, relentless, and frighteningly common." Laurie Graham strings these words aptly to reflect the society. Two out of three people globally believe that there is little or no understanding of dementia in their countries.

Countless beliefs and myths revolve around dementia due to lack of information and awareness. In high-income countries, only 20-50% of dementia cases are recognized and documented in primary care. One study shows that in India, 90% of cases are undiagnosed.

Due to lack of knowledge of recognizing the symptoms and understanding the medical treatments, people around the world fear the widespread impact of the same. According to Stollznow Research, 2011, dementia is only second to cancer as the most feared condition in Australia. In a national population survey in Australia, 44% people believed that people with dementia are discriminated against or treated unfairly, with 22% indicating that they would feel uncomfortable spending time with someone who has dementia.

1. Countless myths surround the disease which we all seem to believe "there is nothing a person can do to reduce the risk of dementia." However, being socially engaged, learning new skills or hobbies, exercising, reducing alcohol intake, controlling high blood pressure, challenging our brain through brain activities like Sudoku, word searches, crosswords helps in building cognitive reserve. A combination of medication and lifestyle changes helps stabilize dementia. On average, symptoms of dementia are noticed by families three years before a firm diagnosis is made, but due to uninformed knowledge, it is often neglected.

2. "Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are the same" is one of the most common beliefs amongst individuals. Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a set of symptoms that occur when the nerve cell is damaged. These are at least 400 different types among which Alzheimer is one of them. Common symptoms like difficulty in thinking, language, problem-solving and carrying out everyday tasks, change in behavior and mood often leads to such myths.

3. Often we believe that "dementia is a natural part of aging". 4. "People with dementia can’t understand what’s going on" is a common way of approaching the patients but very often people with dementia understand much more than they can express. It’s important to communicate directly rather than to speak to their family members. You need to give them time to respond.

5. Unknowingly we comment saying "someone with memory loss must have dementia". Memory loss can be a sign of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia but it can also be an indicator of a reversible condition that needs treatment. Moreover, in some types of dementia, the memory may remain pretty functional in early stages.

6. More often than not we listen to people around us saying "your parents’ have dementia so you will, too". There is a high risk if your parents have dementia but not everyone who has dementia affected parent will have dementia. Science found around 9 factors that were all modifiable, affected by lifestyle and health choices accounted for the majority of all dementia cases. Despite the family history, there is a lot we can do to decrease the risk.

1. People with dementia become like children and respond well to being treated that way,'' just because some people need time to adjust how you speak to someone who has dementia, they believe that using baby language, speaking in the high pitch voice, using terms of endearment instead of names and approaching the person as if they were a child is helpful. It’s not. This is termed as "elder speak" and its patronizing. It has been correlated in research with an increase in challenging behaviors in people with dementia.
2. Often people perceive that "people with dementia become violent and aggressive". Dementia affects each person differently and not all become aggressive. Loss of memory and an increasing inability to understand what is happening around them can cause people with dementia to express their frustration through their behavior. Taking steps to make the environment as comfortable and calming as possible can avoid many upsetting situations for both the person with dementia and people nearby.

Jobin Reddy is a Blogger. With his skills, he has been helping other people with the knowledge he has. When not glued to his laptop, he can be found making travel plans that rarely happen.