Government raises concerns over dementia

Dewi Santoso, Jakarta

Commemorating the sixth anniversary of Senior Citizens Day on Saturday, the government is raising public awareness on how to delay the onset of dementia in some 16 million senior citizens, around 15 percent of whom suffer from the disease.

Dementia is severe organic mental deficiency or impairment, which leads to a deterioration of the ability to memorize or recognize people and things.

Such a disease usually attacks elderly people who do not exercise their brain sufficiently.

Data from the Ministry of Health shows that around 50 percent of those suffering from dementia are aged over 85, with around 15 percent over 65.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said on Saturday the important measure that needed to be taken into account was how to delay the onset of dementia, otherwise the disease could force sufferers to become dependent upon others.

"The message that we wish to convey here is that it's OK to be old and healthy, but it's not OK to be old and suffer from dementia," he said.

In the United States, the incidence of elderly people with dementia aged over 85 is the highest, at 32 percent, followed by those aged 80 to 85, at 16 percent.

In Indonesia, no such data is available. However, neurobehavior expert Abdulbar Hamid said cases of dementia could increase in the country in people as young as 50.

Abdulbar explained that dementia could be categorized into two types -- cognitive and emotional disturbance.

Elderly people with cognitive disturbance are those unable to recognize others -- even those close to them -- and have difficulty in memorizing numbers, names or addresses.

Meanwhile, those suffering from emotional disturbance usually experience terrible mood swings: At one time they may feel sad, while another time they may feel happy, for no apparent reason.

"If not treated immediately, they could soon suffer dementia. If so, it would mean that they could not look after themselves, but instead would have to depend on their families," said Abdulbar.

To prevent the incidence of more dementia cases, he said, elderly people should be told that such a disease could be kept at bay as long as they were willing to do exercise and stick to a healthy diet.

"It's good for the elderly to have something to do in their spare time to keep their brain occupied. They could do something light like knitting, which could help their brain to concentrate," he said.

Abdulbar added that it would also be helpful for elderly people to try to learn and remember things, including numbers, once they saw them.

"You know -- like trying to remember the names of your old friends, where you put your glasses and what you read the other night. It will improve your memory," he said.

Another exercise is for the elderly to try and recall or bring to mind everything they have learned, added Abdulbar. "If you do all of these, you will hopefully prevent, or at least delay, the onset of dementia."

According to data from the Ministry of Health, the number of elderly people is expected to increase by 8.5 percent to 15 percent, from 16 million to between 19 million and 22 million of the total population, within the next six years.