By Fazeena Saleem
DOHA: The Memory Clinic at Rumailah Hospital of Hamad Medical Corporation received increased number of people seeking treatment in 2015 due to awareness, says a senior official.
Awareness about the importance of receiving professional advice and medical assistance for memory problems, a common condition which could arise among the elderly, has increased the number of patients, said Dr Hanadi Al Hamad, Acting Chair, Elderly Geriatrics, HMC.
“Earlier, we had one or two patients, now we have a long list due to awareness,” Dr Al Hamad told this newspaper.
The clinic for early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of severe memory loss among the elderly has been in operation since 2013. The first-of-its-kind facility in Qatar, has a geriatrician, a psycho-geriatric consultant, a specialist and an occupational therapist who assists with the cognitive treatment of the patients.
The multi-disciplinary centre offers psycho-geriatric assistance to the elderly suffering from memory lose — dementia — and referred by any hospital across the country. At the clinic, each patient is evaluated for at least one hour before treatment begins. Follow-up treatment is required every three to six months to check the effectiveness of the medication. “The clinic is envisaged as a centre that provide full care, including memory loss treatment, as well as preventive care for the elderly. This includes providing education on factors that could lead to memory loss among the elderly,” said Dr Al Hamad.
According to reports, dementia usually occurs in the older age from 65 years and the risk increases as a person gets older. Worldwide, the prevalence of dementia among those aged 65 is five percent while it is 20 percent and 30 percent among those aged 75 and 85, respectively.
Dementia is caused by the loss of certain brain cells during certain diseases. Most types of dementia are non-reversible (degenerative). Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia.
The Peninsula
