This week is Alzheimer’s Awareness week (5-11 July, 2009). The main aim of this week is to raise public awareness and understanding about dementia, its causes and the impact it has on people. In the UK alone, 700,000 people have a form of dementia and many others are affected by the consequences. Although the exact causes of the disease are not known, the biological processes have been identified. There is currently no cure for Alzheimer's disease. There are however, some drug treatments available that can ameliorate the symptoms or slow down the disease progression in some people.
Alzheimer’s disease destroys cells in the brain resulting in symptoms which include memory problems, mood changes and communication problems. Unfortunately, anyone can develop dementia, age being one of the most significant factors. As many as one in eight people over 60 have a form of dementia and as many as one in five over the age of 80.
This makes me think about my parents who have now both turned 60. My mum has recently become increasingly more forgetful. We took her to the doctors and were referred for tests at the hospital. Fortunately, my mum is fine. Apparently, we all begin to lose our memory with age which is completely normal.
Since then I have made an increased effort to spend more time with my parents. I take for granted the fact that they will always be there for me just as they are now. I feel that since I have turned 30 years old, time passes by so quickly. One day, my parents are not going to be here and that thought makes me very sad. I have begun to upload my parent’s profiles and memories onto Evergenes, so that they can see how they have changed over their life time but also in the future I can sit down with my children and tell them all about their grandparents and so on. I think that my parents will like the fact that they shall have a continued on-line presence in this world and will never be forgotten.