Distance The Madness

Reading on Cognitive Intelligence a few years back made me realise my poor learning skills were caused by one or more weak cognitive skills. Cognitive intelligence a general mental capability that among other things involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. Cognition is the method by which people assimilate and integrate knowledge while intelligence is both the assimilation of knowledge as well as the ability to apply such knowledge. Parents of young children must increase their awareness on this.

Another awareness to focus is by children of ageing parents to understand the growing madness around us. Madness is the mental disorder where a person is unable to understand the present circumstances. We are referring to Dementia a general term for decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. “Dementia in India 2020” the report estimates 5.3 million above the age of 60 have dementia in India and only fractions are diagnosed. Currently this equals to one in 27 Indians having the disease. It is only fair the 3 pound brain gets its recognition as your powerful organ, nourished by one of your body’s richest networks of blood vessels. With each heart beat arteries carry about 20-25 per cent of your blood to brain where 100 billion nerve cells, 100 trillion synapses, dozens of neurotransmitters are at work. The concern I share is that often the changes in the brain as cell damage and its progression has happened several years before its diagnosis.

This advisory is to take special care of elders ensuring simple discipline of food, exercise and brain exercises to keep the madness at distance. Currently only Bangalore city is “Dementia Innovation Readiness” a level of international standard preparedness, to innovate in terms of strategy, diagnosis, detection, treatment, care and support of dementia.

Thanks to late Dr Jacob Roy Kuriakose founder Alzheimer and Related Disorders Society of India and Past Chairman of Alzheimer Disease International, the organisation continues to broaden their activities and establishing chapters in India. A long way to go as relevance awareness of the disease, social stigma and much to influence central government of the health priority needs to be overcome.

Our social consciousness is far below as compared to what an initiative in Japan has come up with. “Restaurant of Mistaken Orders” has opened in Japan. The English Introduction page states “You might think it is crazy, a restaurant that can’t even get your order right. All our servers are people living with dementia. They may or may not get your order right.”

An inspiring message from Shiro Ogani founder of the restaurant “People believe you can’t do anything for yourself, and the condition will often mean isolation from society. We want to change society to become more easy-going so dementia or no dementia, we can live together in harmony.”

(37% of their orders were mistaken but 99% of the customers were happy.)

" Can we remember their love when they can no longer remember."