How Gravitas: Dementia cases in India could increase 197% by 2050

Another question do you find it frustrating when you can't remember something say a name imagine if you're trying to trying very hard to recall the name of a place you visited just last week your audience is looking at you they're hoping the name will eventually come to you you're under immense pressure you're trying very hard to recall the name but you fail situations like these can be frustrating and if the setup is formal and the audience large then such situations can be embarrassing in medical terms the inability to remember is called dementia if you can't remember something on a one-off day it's not dementia of course it may be because you're not well rested or because you're preoccupied or stressed but if you're forgetting things and names on a daily basis if you're losing track of time if you're losing your way in familiar places that these signs can be worrying and they can be pointing towards dementia in india more than 38 lakh or 3.8 million people suffer from dementia it is not a disease per se it's more of a condition it hampers a person's ability to remember to think to make decisions a person may forget the road to his home not recognize his friends and family may forget old memories lose track of time in short dementia makes life difficult and so it becomes a cause of concern when reports predict a difficult future i'm looking at one such report this one is by landsat and this is what it says cases of dementia will go up by 197 percent in india by 2050 197 percent in other words in 30 years from now more than 11 million indians will be living with dementia the number is not in contrast with the global trend the same lancet report also says that 57.4 million people around the world currently have dementia by 2040 that number will be 116 million it will become 152.8 million by 2050 meaning dementia cases will triple in the next 30 years in bangladesh cases are expected to rise 254 percent in bhutan 351 percent in pakistan 261 percent nepal 210 what explains this what explains dementia there's aging family history poor health traumatic brain injury or stroke but a 190 197 percent increase in dementia cases or an increase of 351 percent is not normal so it begs the question whether the pandemic has anything to do with the rise in dementia or is that changing lifestyle to be blamed well experts say it's a bit of both according to the world health organization social isolation increases the risk of dementia you know what else does air pollution and cognitive inactivity meaning mindless scrolling on your phone that even depression adds to dementia you must have heard of alzheimer's disease it's the most common type of dementia people suffering from it sometimes can't even recall conversations they had just a few minutes ago some have difficulty talking or even walking dementia not just cripples its patients but also their caregivers imagine having your parent not recognize you or having to remind him or her every single day who you are or why he or she must not leave the room unaccompanied or why he or she must take their medicine on time in 2019 family members and friends spent five hours every day caring for people living with dementia while it took a toll on their physical and emotional well-being dementia also went on to hit the global economy the world was set back by 1.3 trillion dollars as of 2019 courtesy dementia 1.3 trillion 50 of this amount was attributed to informal care this was the money that was lost because loved ones had to drop out of work or were too exhausted to perform well dementia can no longer be kept on the back seat it cannot be dismissed as a problem that can be dealt with later at old age today nine percent of the cases are being reported in people below 65 years of age today dementia is the seventh leading cause of death 65 of these deaths are women what's worse there is no treatment so prevention is all we can focus on how do we do that how do we prevent it well it's not difficult we're told for starters you need to stop smoking watch your weight get moving get some exercise control your alcohol intake control your blood sugar levels all of this will help you reduce your chances of developing dementia and save your family from living an ordeal so look out for the symptoms talk about it and most importantly work towards avoiding it veon is now available in your country download the app now and get all the news on the move NOW PLAYING