World Health Organization (WHO) stated that there are almost 50 million people worldwide, ages between 60 and above, including 400,000 Australian victims are battling the heartbreaking reality of Dementia. 60% of this population belongs to the range of low and middle-level profiting countries, and every single year, there are approximately 10 million newly- identified patients who suffer from this ailment. Researchers believe that the number is expected to increase up to 82 million in the next few years. Moreover, Dementia is recognised as Australia’s second leading cause of death; 5.4% among male patients and 10.6% among the females, according to Dementia Australia.
Alzheimer’s Association defined Dementia as a form of neurodevelopmental disorder that heavily affects an individual’s critical thinking ability, communication skills , social interaction capacity, memory, and even the person’s behavioral functions but behind all these well-known attributes of Dementia, some experts believe that there is a deeper meaning on how much pain a patient ca bear every single day of his life.
One of ABC’s program named ‘Four Corners’ argued the deleterious reality of Dementia; Identity confusion, losing hope, and most importantly, deprivation from living a happy life.
In fact, there are a lot of testimonies from many patients, foretelling that living with Dementia is, indeed, a difficult daily-combat.
The hardship of Dementia; some shared statements
For instance, Brian Fischer, a 79-year old Dementia patient, said that his condition limit him from doing the things he used to do. His enthusiasm and activeness in achieving his goals just went away in a snap. He also said that he cannot remember when it exactly occurred to him, it just suddenly negatively affected his life. Mr. Fischer had also encountered a phase wherein he accidentally hit his wife, Heather. He was starting to become a little physically violent because he got so frustrated in his state.
Another one is Wendy Barnett, a book lover, a librarian and a mother of 3 beautiful children who suffered the painful reality of Dementia in her later years. When she turned 63, she can no longer read or write, and even utter words in a sequence. It was as if Dementia was slowly transforming them into another kind of persona they never wanted to play. We can only imagine how much harder it is for the family members to standby the patients while they suffer for a long period of time.
Actions and Approaches
Although there are some remedies being recently tested for the case of Dementia patients, Australia has been implementing a national strategy since 2016, to monitor plausible health and economic issues, and even to check possible solutions.
While we spend time relying on the capacity of the researchers and experts who are working hard together to finally develop a treatment that would slow down or completely stop Dementia, it would be better for us to support and act so patients with Dementia could continue living a good quality of life.
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