By: Zeela Shoaib
Have you ever pondered upon the likelihood of losing your memories? Even imagining this terrifying possibility sends chills down our spine. Most of the time we don’t contemplate on things we can’t see like memories but this does not erase the fact that they play a vital role in our lives. Almost all of our actions can be classified as based on memories, even reflexive ones.
So, the question arises is that why would we lose our memories? Everything is saved in our brain and it is, to date, the most efficient memory saving unit. However, our brain is also an organ which means it comprises of millions of cells joined together to form tissues, transmitting and receiving countless nerve impulses per minute. This vulnerability makes it an easy target for disease like Alzheimer’s.
In easy words, Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease that gradually destroys the mind and worsens over time. What makes this disease so dreadful is that till now we have no cure for it. That means it is something that can be slowed down but cannot be stopped completely. Medicines are prescribed to deal with its effects and slow down its progression but the disease is not eliminated.
Our brain is such a complex organ, possessing intricate components that work together in extraordinary ways. They are so closely tied together that a small fault can disbalance the whole system. It is usually common in the elderly people in their sixties or seventies and is usually started when proteins start accumulating in the brain, causing tangles and deteriorating its function. This disease is mostly genetic however, that does not reduce its peril.
People with Alzheimer gradually turn into a body with no physical control because as this disease worsens, their motor skills deteriorate into a pile of rubble. It all begins with forgetting the keys over the fridge, or birth dates slipping from the and then turns into significant body and behavioral changes. Patients often lose their way back home after a walk, lose their skill of speaking, in worse conditions they also forget how to swallow.
With such drastic changes taking over the body, they become dependent on other people for survival. Losing your own memory and skills is like losing a part of yourself. When your brain is out of order, you lose your past and nothing remains apart from a body living on food an oxygen. A body that is existing rather than living.
This dilemma is more worrisome for the family members and for people nourishing the patient because often these patients experience mood swings, resulting in outbursts of extreme emotions. The family has to witness the whole process which is painfully slow, because it is similar to watching someone die, only in slow motion. Nothing can be done in order to stop this except giving love and attention and tending to their needs. It is because love is an emotion that doesn’t need words to be conveyed. It is a feeling that is felt, even by Alzheimer’s patients.
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