Visiting of dementia specialist Dr. Victor Valcour |20 April 2016

Mental health professionals learn about Alzheimer’s disease

Psychologists, doctors and nurses working with memory and mental health patients as well as other concerned health professionals have taken part in a discussion session with visiting dementia specialist Dr. Victor Valcour.

Dr. Victor Valcour is a professor in geriatric medicine with expertise in dementia including Alzheimer’s disease and he made his presentation on Monday morning at the Seychelles Hospital.

Friends of Seychelles (FOS) a locally-based charity, in conjunction with the Consulate of Seychelles in the USA, has invited Dr Valcour to meet health decision-makers and policy leaders on mental and memory healthcare and help assess the needs for Seychelles’ own memory care unit and training required for medical personnel.

Talking to the press on the sidelines of yesterday’s discussion, Dr Valcour explained that there is a very common misunderstanding between Alzheimer’s and dementia.

“Dementia is a kind of umbrella term which is used for all kinds of diseases that cause a change in cognitive abilities that lead to functional decline,” he said.

He added that under dementia there are a number of different types of diseases and one of them is Alzheimer’s disease. He said it is a disease which once diagnosed can help families and caregivers to better understand the person concerned to prevent injuries and accidents. 

“Caring for somebody with memory problem is very stressful and bringing friends to talking about it and letting people know and share in the challenges you are facing can go a long way,” Dr Valcour pointed out.

He explained that the most common symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease is that people become forgetful of mostly recent common  things like what they had for breakfast that day or dinner the evening before, asks a  particular question over and over again, not remembering where they put things  and this is due to memory changes. People can also present lack of motivation and show sign of depression. 

He noted that these can be benign at first but repeatedly having the same problem and particularly asking the same question should be cause for concern.

The risk of having dementia is in the whole population but the biggest risk factor is age and vascular changes like stroke, not managing blood pressure, diabetes, have sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise and not keeping the brain stimulated.  

“We believe that preventing those things in mid-life can considerably decrease one’s risks down the road,” Dr Valcour said.

Lise Church, consul general of Seychelles in the USA and the patron of Friends of Seychelles, has recently launched a new committee called the Seychelles Alzheimer’s Foundation that is focusing on education, training and care of Alzheimer’s patients, family and friends.

‘’People with Alzheimer’s need a lot of care and attention and we know that caregivers and other family members  are really going through stressful situations daily taking care of affected persons at home or in institutions.

‘’This is why Friends of Seychelles is working with the Ministry of Health to set up a home for Alzheimer's sufferers. There they will be at home and will never feel alone if one day the caregiver is not present,’’ she said.

Mrs Church said the aim is to give training to people who can later pass on the expertise to caregivers to better take care of sufferers.

Alzheimer's has no current cure, but there are treatments for symptoms.