Alarming milestones of Alzheimer’s disease are – immediate memory loss, difficulty in performing known tasks, inability to comprehend and speak a language, confusion regarding time and place, misplacing things, poor judgement of time and space, inability to think abstract things, inconsistent changes in mood and behaviour, unkempt and a changed personality and loss of zeal and drive.

These are the symptoms that you should get aware about any elderly person in your family. The onset of this disease is gradual and so is often missed. It is when you start noticing that the elderly is forgetting to switch off the iron, or the gas, or to take his regular medicines or do his routine, is when you need to have a medical check.

Also look for inability to converse properly, erratic and inconsistent moods, uncooperativeness, and loss of bladder and bowel movements.

Besides the treatments of the risk-factors one needs to treat the psychiatric symptoms like agitation, depression, hallucinations, anxiety and sleep disorders. I suggest that you consult your doctor whenever you see having the above mentioned signs and symptoms; and also start inculcating positive lifestyle changes. Please do not give any medications before consulting the physician.

Remember to always see and treat a patient as a whole human, where body, mind and spirit cannot be separated. And better still, avoid sickness rather than wish for medicines.

Take care, I will keep praying for you.