Friday 22 July 2016

Dementia in Uganda

The Alzheimer's Association defines dementia as
a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia.
Dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory or other thinking skills severe enough to reduce a person's ability to perform everyday activities. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 60 to 80 percent of cases. Vascular dementia, which occurs after a stroke, is the second most common dementia type. But there are many other conditions that can cause symptoms of dementia, including some that are reversible, such as thyroid problems and vitamin deficiencies.
There are several conditions that can cause dementia. A Case of Alzheimer’s Dementia in Uganda lists some of the most important:
Alzheimer’s disease
vascular dementias infections (commonly HIV and Syphilis) substance abuse (alcohol) trauma (road traffic accidents) nutritional deficiencies (vitamin B-12). 

A 1996 Ugandan study, Prevalence of dementia in an elderly rural population: effects of age, sex, and education, found that dementia affects 8% of the elderly population over 64 years. Dementia affects men and women equally. The numbers of those affected increases increases with age. Assuming a population of 38,000,000 of which 3.1% are 65 years or over there are 94,240 elderly people with dementia.

The story does not end there. Sub-Saharan Africa has a very high number of HIV/AIDS cases.

In 2007 Johns Hopkins published the following article, HIV Dementia Alarmingly High in Africa:

In the first study of HIV dementia on the African continent using rigorous neurological and neuropsychological tests, 31 percent of a small but presumably representative group of HIV-positive patients in Uganda were found to have HIV dementia, according to Ned Sacktor, M.D., a Johns Hopkins neurologist and senior author of a multi-institutional study that will be published Jan. 29 in Neurology...“If the rate we saw in our study translates across sub-Saharan Africa, we’re looking at more than 8,000,000 people in this region with HIV dementia,” says Sacktor.

Sacktor says an extremely high rate of HIV dementia in Africa and other poor regions of the world adds enormously to the social and economic burden of their populations and governments. Dementia not only disrupts jobs and adds to the cost of care, but also interferes with a patient’s ability to adhere to a regular course of antiretroviral medication, thus increasing the risk of drug resistance. People with dementia also are less likely to practice safe sex.

Before antiretroviral medications were available in the United States, the U.S. rate of HIV dementia was similar to what was discovered in this study in Uganda, says Sacktor. Unfortunately, he says, only 20 percent of people infected with HIV in the world are getting treatment.

“We hope studies like these will shed additional light on the devastating problem of HIV in resource-limited countries like Uganda and encourage more programs that bring much-needed medication to these poor regions of the world,” Sacktor says.
Sacktor says there’s little accurate data about HIV dementia patients in other parts of the world current estimates of the number of HIV-positive patients who have dementia range from 9 percent to 54 percent.The number of persons with HIV/AIDS related dementia surpasses the number of elderly with dementia. 
In Uganda dementia is not only a disease of old age. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS means there is a large number of people that are suffering from the effects HIV/AIDS related dementia. A 2013 Ugandan study, Prevalence and factors associated with probable HIV dementia in an African population: A cross-sectional study of an HIV/AIDS clinic population estimates that 64.4% of HIV positive people have signs of dementia. Assuming a population of 38,000,000 and 7.3% of the population affected by HIV/AIDS there are a further 1,775,360 persons suffering from the effects of dementia.

In 2015 there were an estimated 46,800,000 people living with dementia in the world. With 1,775,360 HIV/AIDS related dementia cases Uganda has almost 4% of the worlds dementia cases.

For more information about dementia see the Facebook page of the Dementia Foundation of Uganda.

For more information about the elderly with dementia see Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA) on Facebook or go to the Uganda Reach the Aged Association (URAA) website.

6 comments :


  1. For those people whose relative are suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and maybe reading this, I find it hard that people are still ignorant of herbal medicine when it comes to treating Alzheimer’s Disease.
    I have been through many phases over the last couple of years since my father's diagnosis, he was 53 years old and had Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease and his diagnosis changed my life in many ways, I spend most of the time in denial and I keep thinking the tests were wrong. But deep down I knew they were correct. Though sharing his story is very difficult. He was always very successful in being able to accomplish anything he set his mind on doing. Alzheimer’s is a bitch of a disease. It began by robbing his recent memory, but it didn't stop there. It continues to steal, taking the most recent memories until it has pilfered all but the oldest memories, he experienced a decline in his ability to think, remember and make decisions. I feel a need to express my thoughts and feelings about how it affected his day to day living and how its deteriorated since despite the help of some wonderful medics and medicine.
    I remind myself how lucky to come across Charanjit rychtova's herbal medicine which is able to control this disease without any side effect, I felt a moment of relief hoping that he is free from this ailment, and nothing compares to the healing power of nature. Now I believe almost every health problem can be addressed in one natural way or another. The only thing I wanted was for him to feel better. I’m proud to say my Dad is Alzheimer’s free. You can also contact him for advice and more info. charantova@gmail.com

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  2. I am trying retinitis pigmentosa treatment for my sister. This is really effective and helped her a lot to get rid of her pain

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  3. I am 29 years old and have been diagnosed with breast cancer, ease of treatment and a similar story, except for my first acceptance as a rejection of herbal medicine. I was not part of the Perseid movement and did not really build relationships with any of them, I just believed in their operation. I say this because it was during the use of Dr. Itua herbal medicine that I now attest that herbal medicine is real, the phytotherapy Dr. Itua heal my breast cancer which I suffered for 2 years. Dr. Itua herbal medicine is made of natural herbs, with no side effects, and easy to drink. If you have the same breast cancer or any type of human illness, including HIV / AIDS, herpes cancer,Ovarian Cancer,Pancratics cancers, bladder cancer, bladder cancer, prostate cancer, Glaucoma., Cataracts,Macular degeneration,Cardiovascular disease,Lung disease.Enlarged prostate,Osteoporosis.Alzheimer's disease,
    Dementia.kidney cancer, lung cancer, skin cancer, skin cancer and skin cancer.testicular Cancer, , LEUKEMIA, VIRUSES, HEPATITIS, INFERTILITY WOMEN / MAN, LOT OF LOVE, LOTTERY. ITS CONTACT EMAIL / WHATSAPP: info@drituaherbalcenter.com Or drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com/ +2348149277967
    Here is my contact phone number. +1-913-9518-145 if you would need some advise from me.

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  4. DOES HERBS WORK FOR DEMENTIA?

    This was the same question that prompted me to read further a testimony I saw on a blog. I would like to tell a story - hoping it will be useful to others - of my struggles and achievements with Dementia. I was diagnosed a little over 4 years ago, No doctors I met have any treatment or even suggestions apart western medications. I even sought advice on Youtube, to no avail. After using the conventional approach to medication treatment without improvement. I am glad something happens fast. There have been suicides due to people not being able to continue on living with the endless memory challenges. It is horrible. I learned about Dr. charanjit herbal medicine that works effectively for me without any negative effects. I have returned back to my normal life and I hope that the symptoms do not return again, It really helped me! If you have Dementia kindly contact Dr. Charanjit for help and necessary solution (charantova@gmail.com)

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  5. To ,
    Disu,
    We would like to have your support for Alzheimer’s & Dementia International Conference which is going to be held in Pacific Gateway Hotel at Vancouver Airport Vancouver, Canada, from October 19, 22, 2020,
    We would like to have your support like exhibitor/Sponsorship or speaker or delegate. Please let us know your interest.
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    Note: Alzheimer’s & Dementia World congress hosting presentations from more than 30 countries and 70 organizations.
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    We are also informing you that,
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    Octad Conferences LLC 2831 St. Rose Pkwy, Suite 200, Henderson, NV 89052 UNITED STATES
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  6. I can’t forget in a hurry my Mom's horrible years of fight with Mental ailment (Alzheimer). My Mom got really sick around Christmas that year. When I saw her in the hospital with all those tubes, I just lost it. I got so hysterical that I had to be escorted out. Soon after that, I got into that altercation with my neighbor and was sent to jail. When I got out of jail, Her symptoms were acting up and I felt so angry.  Dad had already taken her to a state psychiatric hospital. I was really nervous, but I talked to a psychiatrist there who made me feel comfortable. For the first time, she opened up about what she was experiencing—the voices, not being able to remember things, the paranoia. She said, “Your mom is battling Alzheimer.” I didn’t even know what that meant.

    He suggested that when she got out of the hospital and off the treatments she was taking there, we try a new treatment for Alzheimer. After weighing the risks and benefits, we both agreed the treatment, given through monthly injections, might help control her symptoms. Meanwhile, I made friends, and gained insight into her illness. During the week, there were movies, cooking classes and education sessions about her disease—basically, activities to help people like her get back into society. I learned about Alzheimer and what some of her triggers were. All told, she stayed there for two months and we left, I was taking her for doctor’s appointments and grocery shopping. It was hard, especially when her birthday passed, I still helped her walk, fix her food and dress her which made me sad because she was very active at 69 until the illness struck her.

    I came across a herbal medication sometimes last year called zomo but before we started the treatment, we started a day rehabilitation program, and also started the new medication with zomo. I was working hard to achieve my care goals by following the treatment plan. Her symptoms got under control within three months, as she started feeling better. First she regained interest in the things she used to enjoy, like calling/visiting our family and friends for lunch and going for walks in the park and grocery shopping. I will never forget what I went through, or what it took for her to get here. I don’t take any of it for granted. I consider myself an advocate for people who don’t have any knowledge about this herbal medicine. To anyone who’s taken the time to read this that may be struggling with this awful ailment (Alzheimer), reach out, share, I guarantee you reach out to charantova@gmail.com, and know, that as lonely as you may feel, as hopeless as you believe things are, please know, that there are so many patients out there going through same and you are never alone! reach out to him so you could share your own testimony to let others know there is hope.

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