Why in news?  The Karnataka State Health Department, in association with NIMHANS and Dementia India Alliance (DIA), is set to launch a ‘Karnataka State Dementia Action Plan’.

Highlights:

• While a National Dementia Action Plan is yet to be formulated, Karnataka is working on making dementia a health priority.
• Policy aims to involve a multi-stakeholder consortium including government departments, philanthropists and CSR partners

Why there is a need for action plan ?

• Recent estimates reveal a dementia prevalence rate of 7.4% among those aged 60 years and above, translating to nearly 9 lakh Indians currently living with dementia.
• In Karnataka, the prevalence of this neurodegenerative brain disease is estimated to be around 5%, affecting approximately 3.5 lakh individuals

What are the other programmes by state?

• Karnataka Brain Health Initiative and Non-Communicable Disease Control Programme to address the Neuro degenerative disorder

What is Dementia?

• Dementia is an “umbrella category” for loss of memory, language, problem-solving and other thinking abilities that are severe enough to interfere with daily life.
• Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia.
• It will have progressive and irreversible loss of neurons and brain functioning
• Dementia is considered a late-life disease because it tends to develop mostly in people of older age.

What are the risk factors involved in Dementia?

• The risk factors include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, infrequent social contact, head injuries, and conditions including diabetes, hearing loss, depression, obesity, and hypertension.