India’s aged hit by Alzheimer’s

New Delhi: Twenty per cent of India’s 100 million elderly population are suffering from Alzheimer’ disease. Dr Manjari Tripathi, additional professor of neurology at AIIMS, warns against this “silent epidemic which is taking over India’s aged”. A recent survey conducted on dementia by AIIMS titled “The Genetics of Dementia in North India” has only confirmed what doctors describe as a “veritable tsunami”.

The increase can be attributed to several reasons, including hypertension, eating preserved foods, alcohol and smoking and lack of socialisation, which adds to the risk factor said Dr Tripathi speaking at a workshop organised by Helpage India. The problem is compounded because 70 per cent of old people are illiterate and are not able to recognise symptoms of dementia. The large population of elderly residing in rural areas are also at greater risk. Dr A.B. Dey, who heads the department of geriatric medicine at the AIIMS, also warned against the increase of TB and pneumonia in this segment of the population.

“Healthcare has become extremely expensive, especially the cost of intensive care and antibiotics,” said Dr Dey. He also blamed the current system in which older people often got neglected because they had to compete against younger people for scarce bed space, “with the system being skewed in favour of the latter,” Dr Dey added. Helpage India CEO Mathew Cherian pointed out that from this 100 million population of the old, “only 16 per cent receive a pension”.

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