Alzheimer's Disease

Here is my take on Alzheimer's Disease. This is despite the fact I am a member of Deccan Chapter of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI) India. Dr Aruna Alladi, Ms Ansari, Dr Jacob Roy and others are good friends. I take part in awareness programs on AD. But, pardon me for my one-sided views.

Some times, I tend to agree with Prof Kalluri Subba Rao, when he says there is a lot of hype and noise about Alzheimer's Disease. Americans have a way of conducting research on silliest of issues and scare you to death with half baked (and vested-party-cooked-up) results. Take memory loss in old age for instance. As far as I remember, every household had a few old people to care about. Memory loss was taken as routine part of ageing. No one bothered about the condition except doing whatever was possible to keep oldies happy and comfortable. It was a part of cultural ethos to accept the inevitable with grace and move on. No one was scared of providing care to old persons with diminishing memory health.

It is only during the past decade or so we hear about dementia and Alzheimer's Disease. More we read, all the more we get screed and start worrying. One in five get AD? Will it be me? This is like the Horlicks Advertisement that says every other woman suffers from low bone density problems and the only way to combat it, is taking Horlicks with absolute regularity and fill the coffers of that company. This is happening in the field of mental health: everyday a set of popular symptoms get a new name / label of a disease condition. Then starts a series of medicines, diagnosis, tests, expertise, procedures etc for the same. An entire new branch of industry comes up where there was no need in first instance. Whole thing is unethical and promoted by greedy doctors and pharma sector.

Now we have Day Care Centers, Special Carers, Support groups, Memory Clinics, Annual Shows, Government funding, research reports etc. Somehow more awareness is scaring. Ignorance is bliss. How to combat this evil? Just take it easy and ask someone to shoot you the moment you are 'diagnosed' as having AD. Isn't that very simple?

Dr P Vyasamoorthy
30 Gruhalakshmi Colony, Secunderabad 500015 Telangana
LL 040-27846631 / Mobile: 9490804278

Happy to get first payment of Rs 6000/- for allowing advertisements in my blogs.

Practical Advice to Handle Angry guys – that includes you!

Practical Advice to Handle Angry guys – that includes you!

Nowadays I find many senior citizens becoming target of anger at the hands of youngsters. Seniors are targeted because they are vulnerable, cannot (more often, do not want to) fight back because of peculiar circumstances they are in. As they are likely to be mature through experience spanning six or more decades, handling other peoples’ anger should not be difficult.

Why do people get angry? It is because of disappointment over expected things not happening or unexpected things happening. Therefore the root cause is expectation as to how things ought to be. Can we learn to accept things / events as they happen without our seeing them through colored glasses? That is, without any sort of emotional involvement? Let us see.

What to do if someone is angry at you? If you are sane and calm, keep quiet and just listen. Later, try to get at the root of the problem. Most often anger is only the external symptom. Causes could be hidden and not apparent. If you are equally in non-receptive mood, just move away. Don’t try to reason out or justify. This only aggravates the issue.

What to do when you are visibly angry? If the person on whom you are angry is someone who would stomach it, vent off your anger and apologize when you cool down. This could be a subordinate, wife or a friend who understands the situation, cooperates by keeping quiet and not adding fuel to the fire. Displaying anger when it comes and cooling off, compromising are better than bottling up anger that leads to stress and increase of Blood Pressure.

If the person upon whom you are angry is someone to whom you cannot afford to display your anger (consequences would be highly unpleasant), then try to control your anger by moving away from the scene; force yourself to sit and take a couple of deep breaths

Getting angry could be a routine pattern of reaction to many. It could be defense mechanism. The trigger could be trivial and a matter of no concern at all, most of the times. Hard core angry men who would not ever realise the futility of getting angry, or those who don’t realize the harm they causing to others need counseling and help. Provide these if feasible. If this is not possible, cut off your relationship and don’t see him again.