- Alma Hassoun
- BBC News Arabic – London
May 31, 2022
Dementia does not just mean forgetting, it is a syndrome characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, thinking, orientation, and understanding.
When I told a number of my colleagues that I would be meeting with a neuroscientist in London to talk about dementia on the occasion of Awareness Week; They carried me many inquiries, and a number of my relatives – the elderly – sent me messages on WhatsApp, including their questions, or rather their concerns.
Most of them wanted to know the possibility of protecting the brain from dementia “before it is too late”, knowing that about fifty million people in the world suffer from a dementia disease.
The word “senile” has a frightening effect, and the name of this neurological and psychological disease, like other diseases, is often used as an insult in a number of Arab societies to refer to someone who has lost his mind. This word is the approved Arabic translation of the English term “Dementia”.
A Saudi man, who preferred to identify himself as an Alzheimer’s caregiver, tells BBC News that he used to hear “murmurs” and see “surprised looks” around him when he was participating with his father in social events because of his father’s behavior, but decided to stop feeling embarrassed. From his father’s behavior and from telling his acquaintances the name of his father’s illness, “there is nothing to be embarrassed about.”
This Saudi man has been caring for his father who has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for more than twelve years
Scientifically, according to the World Health Organization, dementia does not mean forgetting only, but rather it is a syndrome characterized by a gradual deterioration of memory, thinking and the ability to direct, understand, calculate, learn, speak and appreciate things, but it does not affect awareness.
This last point is very important.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalifat, a researcher in the field of neuroscience at King’s College London, explains that research confirms that a person with dementia “feels like you and me. He suffers. But he is unable to express himself.”
His words reminded me of more than one story I heard about communicating with dementia sufferers through the eyes only.
One of them is about a mother in her seventies who suffers from a memory disease as well as another neurological disease; The daughter asks her mother if she can still tell her, and the mother answers with her eyes. As well as the same Saudi man who has been caring for his father who has been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for more than twelve years, and who says that he understands from his father’s eyes how grateful he is for taking care of him for all these years.
There is no cure for dementia
Despite all the scientific and technological progress, researchers have not yet been able to find a cure for dementia, not even to know the time of the onset of the disease, whose symptoms often appear with the age of sixty-five.
These symptoms begin with forgetfulness, loss of the ability to perceive time, and getting lost in familiar places. Then begins the middle stage, which includes forgetting new events and people’s names, getting lost at home, increasing difficulty communicating with others, needing help for self-care, and asking questions frequently.
As for the advanced stage, it becomes completely dependence on others and almost inactivity. At this point, memory disturbances become significant and physical signs and symptoms become more noticeable, according to the WHO.
The researcher, Ahmed Al-Khaleifat, explains that when symptoms of the disease appear, “the person has lost about sixty percent of the brain’s volume; the mind remains able to exercise its function even if dementia begins.”
But is there no way to know the onset of the disease?
Dr. Khleifat answers that the results of research related to the use of radiographs and blood tests are “promising”, but stresses that genetic tests are the easiest to predict this disease.
“With the development of genetics and the development of statistics in general, we can use mathematical operations to predict the chances of developing a disease. In the future, genetic testing will be done as well as blood tests.”
Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalifat, Researcher in Neuroscience at King’s College London
Women and Alzheimer’s
One worrying piece of information is that a form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, appears more in women than men – not necessarily all women, but “women, over 65, working, with above-average income, above-average standard of living and education” .
The doctor explains why: “This may be a tax on running the mind for a longer period, and it may be due to the stress and modern lifestyle of the working woman, irregular sleep that does not provide rest to the brain, as well as the type of eating.”
Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalifat emphasized the role of interrupted sleep in the development of a disease of dementia.
He explained the reason for this in detail: “The most important theories explaining the occurrence of dementia are related to the protein defect. The agglomeration of proteins (amyloid-beta and tau) is the basis for research related to this disease and the development of drugs to treat it. We see thick deposits and fibrous clumps due to the protein tau during microscopy, these deposits The denser is insoluble and therefore neurons cannot communicate nor get rid of toxic substances from the cell body.”
“Research has proven that sleep is an important part of biological balance, and has found that sleep helps the brain get rid of proteins and toxic substances. There are several studies that have established the relationship between lack of sleep and dementia.”
The protein defect theory is one of three theories; There are also genetic mutations, and metabolic defects that may also cause diabetes, so people with Alzheimer’s often also have diabetes.
In addition, clots may cause vascular dementia, and this disease may accompany other neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.
Despite all the scientific and technological progress, researchers have not yet been able to find a cure for dementia
Dementia in the Arab countries
The number of people living with dementia (currently estimated at 50 million) is expected to triple by 2050.
It is difficult to know the number of people with dementia in Arab countries, but the World Health Organization says that more than half of patients live in low- and middle-income countries.
It does not seem that there are many Arab societies or centers specialized in dementia.
I found the Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Society, which estimates the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the Kingdom at about one hundred and thirty thousand people.
The Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Society estimates the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the Kingdom at about one hundred and thirty thousand people.
The association’s executive director, Rana Abdullah Al-Marie, says that her association, which was established in 2009, is the “only one” that provides various care and support services (medical, awareness, and even material), and that its free services include all parts of the Kingdom.
The absence of statistics and information on the number of injured people in Arab countries not only deprives them of their right to the necessary medical care, but also hinders Arab participation in the field of scientific research, which often remains limited to a particular race (mostly white people).
More than eighty percent of global scientific research trying to find drugs to treat dementia has failed, according to Dr. Ahmed Al-Khalifat, who studied general medicine in Egypt and then obtained a doctorate in neuroscience from Britain.
But the Jordanian researcher remains optimistic that a treatment for dementia is approaching, thanks to the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence. He tells me that a few days ago a conference was held in London and a group of the most important researchers were formed to find innovative solutions for neuropsychiatric diseases.
“Artificial intelligence gives the researcher an opportunity to analyze a large amount of data in a very fast time, and to find people at risk of developing dementia even before they are diagnosed.”