A recent study carried out in the United States shows that death caused by Alzheimerโs disease has increased 55% in the last 15 years.
Whatโs the current situation in Costa Rica?
According to the specialist Norbel Roman, president of the Costa Rican Association of Alzheimer and other Mental Illnesses and Daniel Valerio, geriatrician and representative of the Memory Clinic of Blanco Cervantes Hospital, there arenโt specific stats or reports on the number of people suffering from Alzheimerโs and dementia.
Women are more vulnerable to Alzheimer’s than menโItโs still really hard to know how many Costa Ricans have Alzheimerโs in Costa Rica. Local healthcare centers havenโt been notified to report the Alzheimerโs cases. The Ministry of Health is proposing a law to encourage hospitals and clinics to keep track on Alzheimerโs and publish an annual reportโ โ Dr. Valero said.
However, the Memory Clinic, which has been in business for 10 years, checked around 5 thousand people, determining that the average age of people with dementia is 73 years and that women are a little more prone to suffer from it than men, considering that ladies tend to live longer than their peers. The first leading cause of dementia is the Alzheimerโs disease and the second one is linked to vascular problems.
Dr. Valerio states that itโs paramount to count on reliable statistics because โdementia and Alzheimerโs disease are lethal health problems that require a lot of resources. People with this disability can live many years, for this reason, the authorities must be prepared to provide timely diagnoses. Additionally, the organizations should also provide psychological help assistance to the families, since a lot of seniors end up in old peopleโs homes which is economically unsustainableโ โ said the specialist.
Is Alzheimerโs a mortal disease?
Itโs not a mortal disease but it causes other health issues that eventually lead to death.
โDirect cause of death is due to complications derived from the mental disease like pneumonia, cancer or a cardiac arrestโฆ (…) In the last stages of the disease, the individual is not able to move, eat, and is confined to bed or wheelchair. To put it simply, Alzheimerโs patients die of the complications, infections, casual accidents and malnutritionโ โ Valerio explained.
Dr. Roman stated that those reports will help determine the real death cause of people with this mental issue.