Words by Jemi Ekunkunbor

Dr. Olufunmilayo Akinola is a consultant addiction psychiatrist. She has been the Chief Consultant Psychiatrist in charge of the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Yaba’s annex in Oshodi, Lagos.

The product of the University of Olorin, she is also a fellow of the National Post Graduate College of Nigeria.

A Life Mentoring Practitioner who is a recipient of numerous awards, she has for years led the ‘Yaba’ Community Outreach Team to various outreach programs in schools, market places, and various other organisations.
The wife of an Anglican priest, her passion includes mentoring adolescents and the youths.

As the statistics continue to rise for Dementia/Alzheimer’s, there is a huge interest in finding effective treatments for this disease that lead to impaired ability to remember, think or make decisions about everyday activities. This concern was recently highlighted during when the world marked World Akzeimers Month.

We turned to Dr. Funmilayo Akinola, beautiful wife of an Anglican priest who reveals how sufferers and their families can deal with Alzheimer’s disease.
Enjoy what the medical educator shared with Allure.

What is Alzheimer’s disease, and how is it different from dementia?
Dementia is a general term for the 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.
Dementia can also be defined as a group of thinking and social symptoms that interfere with daily functioning. It is not a specific disease, but rather a group of conditions characterised by impairment of at least two brain functions, such as memory loss and judgment.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for approximately 60% of dementia cases. There are four common types of dementia; Alzheimer Disease (the most common), Vascular Dementia, Lewy body Dementia and Frontotemporal. Some may experience mixed dementia.

What are the early signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s?

Early signs and symptoms include memory loss– patients tend to forget recent events/ conversations, they misplace items or put them in the wrong place. They forget appointments, forget the names of people, objects, or places and struggle to find the right words, sometimes repeating themselves. Mood changes, feeling unsettled by unfamiliar situations, being withdrawn, as well as difficulty making decisions are all other symptoms of the disease.

How is Alzheimer’s different from normal age-related memory loss?
Alzheimer is different because it is a chronic progressive illness that gets worse over time.

Is Alzheimer treatable; what are the most effective treatments and what are their limitations?

Alzheimer is treatable to an extent if the symptoms are attended to early enough. But the disease is progressively worse in nature.

Is Alzheimer’s inherited?
One percent of Alzheimer’s cases are inherited in nature.

What is the role of genetics in Alzheimer’s risk?
Fifty percent of people with parents with Alzheimer’s have a risk of developing dementia.

How does lifestyle– diet, exercise, social engagement etc, impact Alzheimer’s risk and progression?

But there’s strong evidence that healthy lifestyle habits such as diet, exercise, and not smoking — may play a role in reducing your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. However, more research is needed before any of these lifestyle factors can be considered a proven strategy to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
But here are some steps that promote good overall brain health: Avoid smoking, control vascular risk factors including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Lower your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels if they’re high, exercise and eat a healthy balanced diet such as Mediterranean diet that is rich in vegetables, fruits, and lean protein, particularly protein sources containing omega-3 fatty acids.
Also, be physically and socially active, including, engaging in exercises which will help you maintain a healthy weight. Then, take care of your mental health.
Also, avoid head injury. Treat hearing loss as well as vision loss.
Finally, limit alcohol consumption.

What are the causes of Alzheimer’s/dementia?

Alcohol use, untreated depression, smoking, stroke, diabetes, head trauma, Heart Disease, ower formal education, social isolation, High blood pressure, raised cholesterol and hearing loss as well as an inactive lifestyle

Patients depend heavily on family members for care; what is the impact of Alzheimer:s/ dementia on caregivers and families?

Psychological distress is significantly higher in dementia caregivers than in other types of caregiving. And, caregivers tend to sacrifice their own leisure pursuits and hobbies, reduce time with friends and family, and give up or reduce employment in order to devote time to their patients.
There are higher levels of stress, more depression and anxiety symptoms, and lower levels of subjective well-being in the caregivers.

And What are the challenges in providing quality care for dementia patients?

The following are the challenges that hinder the caregiver from providing quality care; lack of patient insight, changes in personality, disruptive behaviours as the disease progresses, inadequacies in caregiver social support, and difficulties in locating resources. In addition, caregivers trying to deal with disruptive behaviour in an elderly person with dementia may be at risk of physical harm.

What are the latest research developments in understanding Alzheimer’s and dementia?

New drugs are being researched to treat mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and mild dementia caused by Alzheimer. This will represent a significant breakthrough in Dementia treatment.

What efforts are being made to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s and dementia?

Advocacy on dementia is the way to go. Alzheimer’s advocates can have associations through which they may sign petitions, write letters, make phone calls, or meet face-to-face with elected officials in support of the Dementia.
They can also encourage the building of well equipped and staffed facilities for people living with Dementia.

How can journalists responsibly report on dementia-related issues and also hold policymakers accountable for dementia-related issues?
I think journalists should always seek medical imput to their write-up before publishing it.

What are some common misconceptions in African tales about Dementia that need to be addressed?

The common misconception is that Dementia may be a mental illness because of some of its signs and symptoms. Sometimes, if the patient has depression with associated guilty feelings, with subsequent abnormal speech in the course of the Dementia, people might say that the patient is a witch.

What are the socio economic implications of Dementia in Nigeria?
Dementia leads to high morbidity and loss of manpower hours in the country. Dementia currently affects 35 million patients with the costs/ management put at over $ 600 billion per year. It is approximately one per cent of global Gross Domestic Product.
The social implications are also high because there is very limited access to social protection and relevant care, services, and support for these patients.

Nigerians like to shy away from issues related to mental health for fear of stigmatization; what advice do you have for such people?

I tell people that the most important thing in life is to be alive, well, and functioning at home, in the community, and in your work environment!
There is no health without MENTAL HEALTH!
We all must talk about how to maintain good mental health and thus, prevent mental illness.
Talking about mental health will ultimately reduce the stigma associated with it.

There is so much going on in the country right now that people are being driven to the edge; what is the first sign to look out for that all is not well mentally with a person?

The earliest signs are; change in behaviour, mood swings–one minute, the person laughs and conversing well, and in the next few minutes or hour, the individual is very irritable/ crying.
Poor sleep, change in appetite and becoming withdrawn to self as well as loss of productivity are also early signs.

With all that you see and experience as a doctor, how do you protect your own mental health?

I usually talk about troubling issues with my husband, who, do not know the clients and who, l know can keep secrets. I leave my work in the office. I usually don’t take work home. I have stopped picking up calls in the night. If the call is important, the caller will send a message. I learnt this some years back when l had problems with sleeping at night. Self care is absolutely compulsory!

When you are not working how do you like to relax?

I watch stimulating movies, and l love to read.