Dementia is on the rise. With the global aging of the population it is becoming more and more common in our society every day. Extending life expectancy and increasing the share of the elderly population has led to an increase in the frequency of dementia and it’s most common form, Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease characterized by loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, learning, and reasoning. It destroys brain cells and causes changes in memory, uncontrolled behaviors and loss of bodily functions. It slowly and painfully takes away a person’s identity, the ability to think, remember, reason, eat, talk, walk, or perform any activity.
A painful disease, which deeply affects both the sufferer and his family. And there is no cure…
The number of sufferers is growing rapidly all over the world. If a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is not found, it is estimated that by 2050, over 120 million people will suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
This disease can happen to any of us, and very likely it will happen to us or our loved ones. For these reasons, it is important that we understand the disease, talk about it and make others aware of this problem, so that the impacted, their families and caregivers are not excluded from society and left on their own.
World Alzheimer’s Month is September and World Alzheimer’s Day is September 21st. This month is the perfect opportunity for us to raise our voices, increase awareness of Alzheimer disease, and find new ways of fighting this excruciating disease and its effects.