Dignity Dialogue
Debunking Myths about Dementia
Based on a book authored by Dr. Sanjay Gupta about dementia and the misassumptions that surround it, Raj Rangarajan tackles the myth about seniors supposedly doomed to forget or confuse things, places or dates as they age.
I am sure many of us know of incidents or are aware of friends or relatives who are victims of dementia, where the person is not fully conscious of where she or he is, or how she or he got there in the first place. As a senior, this writer does think of mortality – if not for my own self – at least for two older close friends – A and B – who seem to manage with sheer willpower and endurance.
Their caregivers are constantly on hand, but I am not sure if the patients are really ‘consciously present’ in the moment. Both of them in their nineties are perhaps aware and survive with what is termed ‘muscle memory’.
This is the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement or action.
Both A and B have lost the ability to communicate or to recall things, places or past events. Photographs or online appearances sometimes jog their memories. I am sure such scenarios are constantly noticed in many care facilities in India as also in other parts of the world. In his book titled ‘Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age’, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, MD, debunks myths about the ageing brain that many of us tend to incorrectly
assume through literature or hearsay.
This neurosurgeon says, “The brain is not a mystery anymore.” He reassures us that dementia is not an inevitable consequence of old age. Dementia can be a spectrum, ranging from mild to severe, and some of the causes of dementia are currently reversible. Alzheimer’s disease accounts for more than half the cases
of dementia in the United States.
And, Dr. Gupta cautions, words such as dementia and Alzheimer’s are being used interchangeably, and they should not be so used. Each is a separate, unique condition. Unless a senior is being treated for a particular brain-related ailment, Dr. Gupta hastens to clarify: do not fret.
Sometimes, we tend to blame our forgetfulness to fading memory or ageing. However, Dr. Gupta clarifies that some of the concepts that seniors experience may include absentmindedness, blocking, scrambling, fading away, struggling for retrieval or muddled multitasking. More focused concentration on the task at hand helps.
For instance, typing an email while watching television or your computer, iPad or iPhone or android device
becomes a herculean effort. Some of us find it difficult to accomplish two activities simultaneously. Dr. Gupta
points out that our brain continually cleans out older memories to make room for new ones. That’s reassuring,
to say the least.
While puzzles, crosswords, games or brain-training videos can improve working memory, brain functions such as reasoning and problem-solving help in generating cognitive reserve. This is the brain’s ability to improvise and navigate around impediments. The concept was discovered in the late eighties by a group of scientists in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego.
New skills such as learning a new language or to cook or paint or learning a new computer code or say, learning salsa dancing or even writing a novel will help in the cognitive reserve department. To use an analogy,
just as a car has a braking and acceleration system that helps navigate trafficon a normal road, Dr. Gupta
affirms, “The brain has the ability and resourcefulness to avoid unexpected roadblocks or diversions or other
vehicles.”
Switching gears now, Dr. Gupta adds, “Male and female brains differ in ways that dictate learning abilities and intelligence.” Surveys suggest that Alzheimer’s strikes a disproportionate number of women compared to men. It is attributed to women’s physiology, as also pregnancies. However, women seem to score better than men on standard tests that are used to diagnose early states of dementia. We are all aware that we are dominated
by either the right or left brain and that both are intricately co-dependent. Both are equally involved in handling grammar and pronunciation as also reading and mathematics.
Research has also shown that people with greater quantities of cognitive reserve are more likely to stave off the degenerative brain changes associated with dementia or Parkinson’s disease or multiple sclerosis. However, Dr. Gupta cautions: “Vascular dementia could be caused by adverse cardiovascular conditions including massive stroke or by damaged blood vessels in the brain as a result of diabetes, high blood pressure or atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries).” His advice to patients: constantly monitor all parameters regularly. Nevertheless, people diagnosed with cognitive decline or dementia or Alzheimer’s disease could continue to learn things.
Dr. Gupta adds that no known dietary supplement improves memory or prevents cognitive decline or dementia, irrespective of what the manufacturer claims on the internet or through TV and newspaper advertisements. When it comes to trusting sources, we have to be particularly careful these days with the proliferation of agenda-driven false information. We also need to constantly revise our thinking on what to believe.
In a shout-out to the humble Indian turmeric, Dr. Gupta says that prevalence of dementia is lower in homes where turmeric is a staple.
Meanwhile, an international team of researchers identified a brain disorder known as LATE. It has similar
symptoms to Alzheimer’s disease but appears to be caused by the buildup of the toxic protein TDP-43. This
finding will help distinguish between different brain disorders and develop precise and personalised treatments.
In conclusion, we have got word that Aduhelm has been approved recently for people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Teresa Carr, an American journalist, mentions in ‘Consumer Reports’ magazine that The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States approved Aduhelm, the first new drug for Alzheimer’s
disease in almost 20 years – and the first to potentially slow progression of the disease. Only time will tell.
Dignity Dialogue | December 2021
