"Unfortunately, we do not have statistics of Alzheimer's sufferers here in Brunei Darussalam. But, what I can say is that by 2050, one out of 85 people around the world will suffer from Alzheimer's disease," said Associate Professor Dr Fatimah Shad Kaneez, yesterday at the one-day Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Day.
Among the activities of the Awareness Day was held at Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam were talks on Alzheimer's disease and a free Zumba fitness session.
Dr Fatima who is attached to PAPRSB Institute of Health Science was awarded a grant to conduct a research "Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease" with nine other fellow researchers.
The three-year project will involve research on 10 respondents aged 45 years and above who may show signs of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's is a form dementia where a person has serious memory problems and cognitive difficulties.
"We are now looking for participants who can help us in our research. It is hoped that with this research, we can do early detection and find ways to delay the process of Alzheimer's as presently scientists have yet to find cure for the disease. What we can do is give drugs to slow the process but not cure it," she said.
Dr Fatima said the project was important for Brunei because people in the Sultanate now enjoy quality life where people live longer. She added that the longer the life expectancy the more people will get Alzheimer's.
She said they were looking for volunteers who have mild cognitive impairment (MCI) where their conditions will be monitored over three years. MCI causes cognitive changes that are noticeable by the individual experiencing them or by other people.
The changes however are not serious to interfere with their daily routine or independent function but the increased risk is it will eventually develop into Alzheimer's or other type of dementias.
"However not all people with MCI will get worse and some actually can get better. That is why this research is very important," she said.
She said for the project, volunteers will be given numbers for identification purpose as all names will be confidential. They will be insured and will have to go for clinical neuropsychological tests at Raja IsteriPengiran Anak Saleha Hospital and undergoing MRI scans at Jerudong Park Medical Hospital.
Apart from Dr Fatima as the principal investigator in the project, other team members are two Masters' students, two PhD students, an officer from RIPAS Hospital, an officer from JPMC, two co-investigators and a research fellow student.
"The results from these tests will be sent to another team in Germany who are also conducting similar research. The results of the tests will be compared with their research," she said adding that the German team is also funded by PAPRSB Institute of Health Sciences.
Dr Fatima said the MRI scan is important to scan, imaging the brain's structure. She added the disease spread slowly sometimes the sufferer's brain condition would deteriorate in 10 years.
Older females are more likely to get Alzheimer's disease especially those who have close blood relative such as siblings or parents who suffer from a similar disease. Those who suffer high blood pressure for a long time are also vulnerable to this disease.
There are two types of Alzheimer's; the early onset where the symptoms appear before the age of 60 and tend to get worse quickly and the late onset, which is the common type and sufferers mostly are elders.
Dr Fatima advised the public to lead a healthy lifestyle in order to avoid getting the disease. "Researchers also found that people in Sardinia, Italy had never suffered from this disease and after investigation it is found that their Mediterranean diet helped to keep the disease at bay. Their diet consists of fish, nuts, vegetables and olive oil," she said.
She added it showed a balanced diet can help prevent the disease apart from exercise regularly such as brisk walking for 20 minutes daily, better stress-management and participate in mentally stimulating and social engaging activities that may help sustain brain function.
Those who are interested to register their loved ones as volunteers can contact Dr Fatima via her mobile at 8930806 or her email at ftmshad@gmail.com within seven days.
Meanwhile, those who want to support the programme and wanted to buy T-Shirts promoting Alzheimer's disease awareness can contact Nurul Bahriah Hj Osman at 7212429 or emailnurulbahriah@hotmail.com. T-shirts are sold at $18 a piece.
The Brunei Times
