SIBU:The Methodist Pilley Institute (MPI) on Saturday (Mar 25) organised a community service programme entitled, ‘Understanding Dementia’ here.
Sibu Hospital’s Psychiatric Unit Head Dr Wong Siong Teck delivered a talk to about 30 participants at its lecture hall.
Dr Wong said dementia is the loss of cognitive function – thinking, remembering and reasoning – to such an extent that it interferes with a person’s daily life and activities.
He said some people with dementia cannot control their emotions and their personalities may change.
“Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person’s functioning, to the most severe stage, when a person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living, such as feeding oneself,” he said.
According to him, dementia occurs when once-healthy neurons (nerve cells) in the brain stop working, lose connections with other brain cells, and die.
He said while most people lose some neurons as they age, those with dementia experience far greater loss.
Therefore, he stated among the early signs and symptoms of dementia that people should pay attention to, especially those who are old, are such as often forgetting recent things or events, losing or misplacing things, getting lost when walking or driving, being confused, even in familiar places and losing track of time.
“In addition, other symptoms to pay attention to are difficulty solving problems or making decisions, problems after conversations or trouble finding words, difficulty performing familiar tasks and misjudging distances to objects visually.
“Those with dementia will also often feel anxious, sad, or angry about memory loss; personality changes; rude behaviour; withdrawal from work or social activities; and being less interested in other people’s emotions,” he said.
Until now dementia has no cure, he pointed out, adding the most common form of dementia is Alzhelmer’s disease which constituted 60 to 70 per cent of cases.
However, he said, people with dementia can take steps to maintain their quality of life and promote their well-being by being physically active, participating in activities and social interactions that stimulate the brain and maintaining daily functions.
Also present at the talk was the Coordinator of Wesley Church Chinese Care & Companion Fellowship, Peggy Wong.
