Dementia: a major problem is the stigma attached to it

ROBYN SASSEN
So says Alzheimer’s specialist Loraine Schirlinger, speaking of the upcoming Dementia Seminar, in September, which she has organised.
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This year’s programme is replete with talks from a range of different issues in the treatment of dementia to a reflection on cognitive markers. “We begin with a speaker who is affected by dementia, Jonah Naidoo. Then, there’s a biokineticist, and a researcher. Renowned geriatrician Dr Stanley Lipschitz speaks on ethics and drug trials and Dr Michael Huth speaks on normal pressure hydrocephalus.

“The afternoon session is less technical, including speech and language therapist Ruthann Sedgwick whose talk is entitled ‘One Swallow does not Make a Meal’ and Attridgeville-based Sister Elsie Etsande speaking on cultural diversity.”

Schirlinger is regional director of Alzheimer’s SA. She studied nursing, specialising in psychiatry and gerontology. “Alzheimer’s is pretty specialised. People tend to think it’s tender loving care, and if you’re a nurse, it’s covered in your training. It isn’t. 

“People are more aware about the disease now,” she says, adding that the increase in the number of sufferers has to do with being diagnosed earlier and being able to make informed decisions.  

According to the Alzheimer’s Disease International, 80 per cent of residents in institutionalised care have a form of dementia. “Every four seconds, according to the ADI, one person is diagnosed with dementia. By 2025, there will be a cure – but we are looking at estimated projections: In 2009 it was projected that by 2013, there would be 36 million people affected by dementia. The actual figure was 44 million.

“So much money is being poured into finding a cure or prevention. The fact that there is neither at this stage, opens ethical issues. People are so scared of Alzheimer’s they will try anything. At any cost.”

The older the patient, the higher the risk. According to the ADI, 1:1 000 younger than 64 can develop a dementia; 1:9 between the ages of 65 and 84; and 1:3 in people 85 and over. “People are living longer,” she responds to the idea that dementia is the plague of the future. “In some First World countries, dementia has overtaken Aids.

“Working in an old-aged home bears a stigma,” she considers the dearth of young trainees. “You get seen as ‘deadwood’. Surely to goodness medical institutions know gerontology is a serious specialisation.

“Dementia can be very trying; I feel working with these people and empowering them is a huge privilege. I try to encourage them to retain, above all, their ability to laugh.”

• The Fifth Annual Alzheimer’s SA Gauteng one-day seminar is at the National Health Laboratories Auditorium, in Sandringham on September 10. Registration closes on September 1. Visit www.alzheimers.org.za

• Cost: for the public – R375; for students – R185; no charge for people with dementia.