Webinar on treatment for dementia

Prof Esther during the Q&A session

Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that commonly affects the elderly. People with dementia slowly deteriorate over the years and become dependent on the caregiver. Thus, the Centre for Corporate and Community Development along with the Malaysia Mental Literacy Movement and the Faculty of Arts and Social Science Department of Psychology and Counselling organised a webinar titled “Treatment Options for Dementia” to increase public awareness on the available treatments at different stages of the disease.

The webinar, held on 30 November 2022 via Zoom and Facebook Live, featured UniKL Royal College of Medicine Perak Consultant Psychiatrist and Old Age Psychiatrist Prof Dr Esther Ebenezer as the speaker. The webinar saw more than 80 participants who were staff, students, and members of the public.

In the webinar, Prof Esther spoke about the domains of dementia which were categorised into cognitive aspects and non-cognitive aspects. Under the cognitive aspects were amnesia, aphasia, apraxia and agnosia while under the non-cognitive aspects were function, caregiver burden and behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. Aside from that, Prof Esther also explained about Alzheimer’s pathophysiology, disease-modifying agents targeting the neuropathology of dementia, commonly prescribed drugs, etc.

She said, “Three categories under the spectrum of behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia are psychotic symptoms, affective symptoms and behavioural symptoms. Psychotic symptoms include hallucination, delusion and misidentification while affective symptoms include depression, anxiety, apathy, disinhibition and euphoria. Last but not least, behavioural symptoms include aberrant motor behaviour, irritability, agitation, stereotypes, hyperorality, hypersexuality and changes in appetite.”

Prof Esther explained, “We need to enhance the communication through the use of short, simple sentences and familiar words. Reduce the choices and break down tasks into steps so it is easier to follow when we communicate with an elderly who has Alzheimer’s disease. Avoid having open-ended questions and be mindful of your body language while maintaining the same eye level.”

“There are wide ranges of medications used in dementia to treat cognitive and non-cognitive symptoms. However, the medications are not meant for a cure, be aware of possible adverse effects. It is also important that caregivers are given equal attention and support services should be in place for them,” concluded Prof Esther.