Dubai: How would you react, if all of a sudden one of your family members just refuses to recognise you? It could be devastating, to say the least.
Alzheimer’s is a disease where a person not only forgets things, but gradually the patients lose their identity — they just forget who they are.
“Alzheimer’s disease impacts thousands of families across the world. Its impact on the relatives of a patient is as devastating as it is on the patient itself,” said Desiree O. Vlekken, founder of Dubai-based awareness group 4get-me-not.org.
Vlekken started the campaign last year after going through the trauma of seeing one of her relatives suffer from the disease.
“When I saw the pain people go through and the impact it has on the relatives of a patient, I thought something should be done to create greater awareness about Alzheimer’s that could help in early detection and prevention of the disease,” says Vlekken, who is involved in year round activities with Alzheimer’s affected families.
September 21 is World Alzheimer’s Day declared by the World Health Organisation and since last year the organisation in partnership with several of its supporters mark the occasion through events in shopping centres.
“Last year, we hosted our events at Dubai Mall and we got an overwhelming response. Most of our work is done through volunteers and corporate supporters as part of their CSR activities and we hope through our efforts there is better awareness of this disease,” she added.
According to the 2012 World Bank report; approximately 0.5 per cent of the UAE’s population are potential candidates for Alzheimer’s Disease and this number is expected to grow with time as early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease is now being reported at an age as early as 30. This is a growing concern especially as most people are not knowledgeable when it comes to early signs of Alzheimer’s and therefore tend to neglect these warning signs until the disease progresses to a stage that is much harder to treat and contain.
On Friday, around 100 people gathered at Burjuman to mark World Alzheimer’s Day organised by 4get-me-not.org, most of whom were patients and their relatives.
“Most people are not knowledgeable when it comes to early signs of Alzheimer’s and therefore tend to neglect these warning signs until the disease progresses to a stage that is much harder to treat and contain. The problem starts with normal forgetfulness which people take lightly and before they realise it’s too late,” said Cyrus Gandhi, whose father passed away four months ago after suffering from Alzheimer’s for several years.
Gandhi is a big supporter of the awareness campaign as he believes, if rightly educated, a lot of people can be saved and the problem can be contained if not cured.
According to Dr Raymond Hamden of Human Relations Institute and Clinics, who is also part of the campaign, the disease which is a degenerative neurological disorder can be contained with early detection and a bit of attention.
“Alzheimer’s is not just about forgetfulness, it’s an inability of people to do their day-to-day activities. It’s different from age appropriate memory problems. It’s more of a psychological issue and it’s important that the patients get the right kind of treatment at the right time,” said Dr Hamden, who is based in Dubai.
The event was marked by music and dance performances by the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra, Dubai Vocal Ensemble, Friends of Parkinson’s Support, Young Voices of Dubai, Twisted Quavers, Eau J. Choreography and D’Fashionista Girls.
