Alzheimer’s an emerging epidemic: Forewarned is forearmed

Wednesday, 18 September 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dr. Shehan Williams, MBBS, MD, MRCPsych, MPhil, Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya, will be making a presentation on 29 September at the Auditorium of the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation on the subject ‘Alzheimer’s an emerging epidemic; Forewarned is Forearmed’. Dr.Williams is the Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Kelaniya and a Consultant Psychiatrist at North Colombo Teaching Hospital. He is a Member of the Board of study in elderly medicine and a trainer at the Post Graduate Institute

of Medicine (PGIM), University of Colombo. He has a special interest in old age psychiatry and is an Executive Director of the Lanka Alzheimer’s Foundation. He refers to the disease as a “hidden burden” and says that Asia’s population is ageing as in the rest of the World. Dementia for instance is considered an Asian problem with up to 46% of dementia sufferers coming from Asia. By 2020, every fifth person in Sri Lanka will be over the age of 60 years. Alzheimer’s affects females more than males and age is the single most important risk factor for the disease. The lecture will look at current strategies to prevent and treat dementia with particular focus on Alzheimer’s disease. Focus will also be on emerging treatments and the hope for better service provision in Sri Lanka. Until now, families have largely cared for the older adults who have both physical and psychiatric disorders with minimal input from formal medical services. Identification of medical and psychiatric diagnoses shifts the onus of care to medical services. Developing a cost effective, sustainable and equitable service for older adults is the challenge. Innovative models, vastly different from the resource hungry models seen in high-income countries will have to be developed to meet the needs. The focus will have to be on implementing these services in collaboration with families and communities. The lecture commences at 6 p.m. sharp. Kindly call the Foundation by calling 2667080 for more information.