We all misplace keys, occasionally walk into a room and forget why we came, or forget a name. The memory lapse is part of being human. Dementia is different.
September is World Alzheimer’s Month, and World Alzheimer’s Day is observed on September 21st. The 2026 campaign theme is: “The Earlier You Know, the More You Can Do. A Dementia Diagnosis Matters.”
Alzheimer’s is a disorder associated with the buildup of certain proteins in the brain and is the commonest cause of dementia. “Dementia” is an umbrella term for a decline in memory, thinking and behaviour that negatively impacts daily life. Alzheimer’s may account for 60 to 70 per cent of cases, but other causes include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, alcohol-related brain damage, Parkinson’s disease dementia and mixed forms, especially in older people.
Alzheimer’s usually begins insidiously, and the earliest symptom is often short-term memory loss.
People may repeat questions, miss appointments, forget bills, misplace objects in unusual places, struggle to follow conversations, lose interest in hobbies, withdraw from community life, become suspicious, anxious or unusually irritable.
Later, speech may alter, money management becomes difficult, medication errors occur, cooking becomes unsafe, driving becomes risky and basic personal hygiene declines. In advanced disease, the person may have difficulty eating, walking, swallowing or recognising loved ones.
Few illnesses test a family’s love like dementia, and it has been dubbed “the long goodbye”.
Relatives grieve in instalments: first the memory, then the independence, then the conversation and then the recognition. Arguing with the person rarely helps, and attempting to correct every mistake may only increase distress.
Early diagnosis allows families to review medication, treat depression, check hearing and vision, assess driving, settle legal affairs, reduce hazards at home and connect caregivers with support. Other causes of memory problems, including thyroid disease, vitamin B12 deficiency, medication side effects, sleep apnoea, depression, alcohol misuse, infections and strokes, should be excluded.
A proper evaluation includes a history from both the patient and family, cognitive testing, physical examination, blood tests and brain imaging.
Families should seek help when memory problems interfere with daily life, when a person gets lost in familiar places, when bills and medication become chaotic, when personality changes are marked, or when there is repeated confusion about time, place or people.
There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, but some medications may help symptoms in selected patients. Newer treatments being studied focus on early disease and specific brain changes, but require careful monitoring.
Age and genetics matter, and no one should be blamed for developing dementia. Still, evidence increasingly shows that brain health is shaped across a lifetime. The 2024 Lancet Commission identified 14 modifiable risk factors linked to dementia risk: less education, hearing loss, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol, traumatic brain injury, air pollution, social isolation, untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol.
Dementia care often falls on daughters, wives, nieces, sisters and exhausted relatives who already have jobs, children, church duties and their own illnesses. Caregivers may bathe, feed, supervise, calm, lift, clean, argue with pharmacies, attend clinics and sleep with one ear open. Many do it lovingly, but love does not prevent burnout.
Care must be shared. Churches, community groups and neighbours have a role too. Dementia-friendly communities are built when people stop laughing at the confused elderly man in the shop, when someone gently guides a lost neighbour home, when a church notices that a faithful member has stopped attending, when families are not ashamed to say, “We need help.”
There is still a person inside the diagnosis, and we must be stewards in public health care.
That person may no longer remember every name, but they may remember a hymn. They may not follow a conversation, but they may smile at a familiar prayer. They may forget who visited yesterday, but still feel loved in the moment. Music, touch, routine, photographs, familiar food and gentle voices can reach places that ordinary conversation no longer can.
September asks us to remember the early signs, seek assessment, reduce stigma and protect caregivers. Our blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol, hearing, vision, sleep and relationships need to be monitored.
Alzheimer’s steals the ordinary: the recipe, the route, the birthday, the name. But families and communities can still give back dignity, safety, patience and love.
The earlier you know, the more you can do.
And even when memory starts to leave the room, compassion must remain.
