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Low-cost medicines in pipeline for Alzheimer's patients

Last Updated 20 September 2012, 18:54 IST

The Central government is considering allocating funds in the next Five Year Plan to supply medicine and care at highly subsidised prices to patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

The idea is being considered following recommendations by a special panel of experts. Initially, Alzheimer’s was largely ignored by the government until the 2010 Dementia India Report, which detailed the nature of the disease. According to highly placed sources, the report also revealed the enormity of the problem and its potential to increase over the course of the next few decades. The report also specified the lack of care towards dementia in the nation.

The panel has proposed the supply of medicine at highly subsidised rates, to set up branches at government hospitals in each major city and to conduct continuous research into the disease. Sources added that these proposals are likely to be accepted.

Lack of accurate figures

A survey conducted five years ago in Bangalore discovered that nearly 30,000 patients were suffering from Alzheimer’s. Medical experts believe that the number may have now crossed 50,000, but admitted that the estimate could be low.

Dr Soumya Hegde, a consultant geriatric psychiatrist at the Nightingales Centre for Ageing and Alzheimer’s, said that a big part of the problem is the lack of accurate figures.

Hegde added that the proportion of people with dementia increases as the population ages. “By the age of 65 years, one in 20 people have the illness. This increases to one in five by the age of 85 years. There is a total lack of awareness among people in the lower socio-economic groups about the disease,” she said. “They tend to feel that the changes are caused by ageing and neglect the disease which finally ends in death. People of higher socio-economic groups who use the Internet and other sources are partially aware of it. But more than 80 per cent people in the State are unaware of the disease.”

She explained that a national and State database would help medical resources to be properly used to address the issue. “We should have a database so that thorough medical care can be planned. People need to come forward to assist in research which is currently lacking in India. This could be in the form of contributing blood samples, being healthy volunteers in clinical trials and also donating the brains of recently deceased loved ones who have suffered from Alzeheimer’s. The brain bank helps understand causes and changes, and works towards discovering solutions. There are only two brains banks in India: in New Delhi and at Nimhans, Bangalore,” she said.

Care better than medicine

As there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, medical experts explained that care is the best method to treat the disease. “There are tablets which cost between Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000. Unfortunately, these tablets are not available in government hospitals. Bangalore is the only City in the country whose hospitals have all facilities under one roof to treat patients. A centre at Nimhans is possibly the foremost in dementia care where specialty clinics have been conducted for decades,” Hedge said.

World Alzheimer’s Day

The Nightingales Centre for Ageing and Alzheimer’s and the Bangalore Chapter of Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Society of India have organised a World Alzheimer’s Day programme on Friday at Kasturinagar between 9.30 am and 1.30 pm.

The programme aims to create awareness, rekindle the memories of afflicted participants through various fun-filled activities, and reduce the stigma attached to the disease through an interactive session with experts.  Intergenerational activities involving children and elders will be also held to enhance social skills and offer a way to reminisce their fond memories of the past.   Alzheimer’s disease is a syndrome which includes memory impairment, language, visual spatial skills, rational thinking, behavioural disturbances and sometimes changes in personality. 

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(Published 20 September 2012, 18:54 IST)

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