JOIN USHundreds of youngsters and senior citizens participated in the ‘Memory Walk’ at Kadri Park on Saturday, to mark the World Alzheimer’s Month in September.
The participants were attired in red tee-shirts and sported smiles for the programme organised by People’s Association for Geriatric Empowerment (PAGE) and other like-minded organisations.
PAGE Vice President Dr Prabha Adhikari, addressing the gathering, stressed, “We must not avoid but speak about the topic, dementia. Twelve risk factors are likely to make an individual vulnerable to dementia. Those who weighed below two kg at the time of birth, those who had completed education up to SSLC, those suffering from hearing impairment and / or obesity and those suffering from loneliness are likely to get dementia.”
District Principal and Sessions Judge Kadloor Sathyanarayanacharya said that the loss of companionship is the greatest loss that leads to depression. “Elderly people are haunted by a fear of neglect and we ourselves have to be blamed,” he said.
Yenepoya (Deemed to be) University Pro Vice Chancellor Dr C V Raghuveer expressed happiness on youth being involved in such awareness programmes on dementia. “They should be made aware, for they too will turn old one day,” he stressed.
Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers (MCF) Director K Prabhakar Rao said that the society should realise that elderly people are assets.
Lions Club District Governor Ronald Gomes said his mother, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, sometimes forgets to swallow.
The guests on the dais – including PAGE President Dr Olinda Pereira, Secretary and Mangalore Alzheimers’ Association (MAA) Founder President Jeradin D’Souza, PAGE Joint Secretary and Treasurer Mohanraj and Lions Club President Shekar Poojary – symbolically released balloons on the occasion.
The members of Spoorthi Charitable Trust, AGE, Mangaluru, Nava Chaithanya, Inner Wheel of Mangalore North and morning joggers participated in the free medical health check up camp and memory clinic organised by Yenepoya Medical College.
Many also registered their names for the Purple Run on September 15, being planned by Forum mall to raise awareness on dementia.