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A rude
shock...
A young man, Amit, was studying in the US. He had not been home for
three years. He had heard that his grandfather was "growing old"
but did not know that he was sick in any way.
The young man decided to visit his grandfather on his
first day back home. He was met by the old faithful maid - the same maid
who had helped bring him up. She hugged Amit, offered him a cup of tea and
wanted to know all about him. Then she very quietly told him that his
grandfather was not in the best of health but that she would call him. Mr B
entered, shabbily dressed with his vest outside his shirt and looking
frightened. He said that he had paid all his taxes and wanted to know why
Amit had come to the house without an appointment. Mr B apparently did not
remember Amit or that he was his favourite
grandson. He kept calling Amit his brother. During dinner, the young man
was surprised to see how his grandfather had aged: he was sloppy and made a
mess of the food; slurped all the time; his previous impeccable table
manners had disappeared. Finally, he got up after dessert, went to the
corner of the room and relieved himself by ‘watering’ the potted plants.
Amit was shocked.
Mr B soon went to bed. The maid of many years was
embarrassed and unhappy. She told Amit that Mr B had been in this state for
some twelve months. His memory, even for day-to-day things had faded. He
could not remember telephone messages, would repeat himself incessantly,
even demand breakfast and lunch a second and third time. He would try to
take sexual liberties with her and, at the same time, accuse her of robbing
him and letting thugs and crooks into his house. At times, when he was in a
good mood, he would take her by the hand and introduce her to the fairies
sitting on the window, then tell her to set the table and cook enough for
the five fairies and themselves. His business affairs were in a shambles;
yet, he tried to set up new companies and start projects which he promptly
forgot. All in all, life was bad.
Amit was aghast. He took his grandfather to a doctor who
referred him for special assessment by a team of doctors consisting of a
neurologist, psychiatrist and psychologist. Certain tests were performed
and a diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease was made.
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Dementia,
derived from the Latin word, [de-=out from + mens=
the mind] means loss or impairment of mental powers due to a disease. The
word démence existed in the French language as far
back as 1381. It is generally understood today as the "loss of
intellectual abilities of sufficient severity to interfere with social or
occupational functioning". This definition from the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association of 1994 has a long
and interesting history, which transcends generations and indeed civilizations.
The
Egyptians and Greeks of the period 2000 - 1000 BC were well aware that
advancing years and old age were associated with disorders of the memory. The
Chinese used the words Zhi Dai Zheng for dementia and Lao Ren
Zhi Dai Zheng for
senile dementia which was described basically as a disease of old people
characterized by muteness, lack of response and craziness. The Romans, i.e.
AC Celsus and Claudius Galen of the first and
second centuries AD, referred to chronic mental disorders known to produce an
irreversible impairment of higher intellectual functions. The Ayurvedic physicians of India used the Sanskrit term Smriti Bhransh as
early as 800 BC to describe loss of memory. Also, in India, the expressions satar-batar which literally translates to
"turned 70" and another sathiya
gaya which translates to "turned
sixty" are used for old people. Research has indicated that these
expressions are applied only to those older people
who show altered behaviour and
loss of memory regardless of age. However, since this change most frequently
happened in people at 60 or 70 years of age, the terms assumed a numerical
connotation. In some parts of South India,
the word Chinan, probably derived from the
Dravidian languages, is used to refer to a condition associated with ageing,
deterioration in memory, abnormal behaviour and
occasional incontinence. While the concept of dementia in the aged is widely
known in Thailand,
Alzheimer’s disease also known as Roke
Long is not as well recognized.
The
changes brought on the mind by old age have also been recognized in the past.
William Shakespeare refers to them in his plays "As You Like It",
"Macbeth" and "King Lear" - the last written about 1606,
aptly describes what is known even today as dementia.
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Act 4, Scene 7:60-70
LEAR:
"Pray, do not mock me:
I am a very foolish fond old man,
Four score and upward, not
an hour more nor less;
And, to deal plainly,
I fear I am not in my perfect mind.
Methinks I should know you, and know this man;
Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant
What place this is; and all the skill I have
Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me;
For, as I am a man, I think this lady
To be my child Cordelia."
CORDELIA:
"And so I am, I am."
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