Senile Dementia Monitor

Russians were asked how they feel about senile dementia

Merz Pharmaceutical Company presented the results of the first all-Russian sociological study "Merz Dementia Monitor". A survey conducted by VTsIOM specialists confirmed the low level of awareness of dementia characteristic of our country (this is what senile dementia is called

Today dementia is one of the most serious global medical and social problems. The general aging of the population, along with the widespread prevalence of cardiovascular diseases, which are also a risk factor for the development of cognitive disorders, leads to a constant increase in the number of dementia patients. Despite the fact that, according to statistics, about every 80th resident of Russia suffers from dementia, and 54% of the population is afraid of encountering memory disorders in old age, 76% of respondents replied that they do not know if there are people with senile dementia among their loved ones.

Anna Bogolepova, MD, Professor of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of the Medical Faculty of the N.I. Pirogov Russian State Medical University, member of the All–Russian Society of Neurologists: "The presence in the family of a patient suffering from dementia is a huge burden that falls on the shoulders of his relatives. It negatively affects their social activity, professional activity and quality of life. That is why it is very important to think about preventing the development of the disease and its early diagnosis, thanks to which it is possible not only to preserve the cognitive functions of the patient, but also to ensure a comfortable existence for his family and friends. At the same time, it is extremely important that people are able to recognize the symptoms of dementia in time and contact a specialist in a timely manner." 

The key symptoms of the disease include forgetfulness, difficulties with reproducing information, difficulties with orientation in unfamiliar terrain, problems with naming and choosing words, difficulties in solving ordinary everyday tasks, changing the circle of interests and the usual form of leisure, self-isolation. Nevertheless, all these symptoms are perceived in our country as the usual attributes of old age.
According to the results of the survey "Dementia Monitor Merz", half of the respondents think little about old age and related problems. To a much greater extent, people are afraid of facing a number of serious diseases, such as cancer (61% of respondents) and diseases of the cardiovascular system (58%). The problem of senile dementia worries slightly less than half of Russians (49%). At the same time, 47% of respondents have no idea about the signs or symptoms of dementia.

Alexander Sonin, Doctor of Psychology, editor-in-chief of the website about dementia memini.ru : "Alas, only 16% of the participants in our survey admitted that there are people suffering from dementia in their environment. At the same time, a completely different picture is observed in Western countries, where 70% of participants in such surveys admit that there are patients with senile dementia among their acquaintances. These figures do not mean that people in the West are more likely to suffer from dementia. They simply clearly demonstrate the still incomplete awareness of the problem of senile dementia in our country. In this regard, in order to raise the level of awareness of the problem in Russia, it is necessary to disseminate information about dementia as widely as possible, about the main problems that arise against its background, as well as about the right solutions to these problems, since the well-being of all family members depends on the right solutions."
49% of the survey participants could not say how they would behave in a situation if a dementia patient appeared in their family. 11% will take care of them, 8% will start paying more attention to them, and only 5% will turn to doctors. Despite the fact that the development of drugs that cure dementia is still underway, modern medicine is ready to help such patients, providing them and their relatives with a decent quality of life. However, the majority of respondents (42%) believe that there are no drugs that can stop the development of senile dementia. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for such a rare visit to the doctor. Another reason is the lack of knowledge about a disease that threatens humanity in the very near future.

Vera Kudryashova, Head of Prescription Drugs at Merz in Russia: "The results of the study really confirmed the fact that the level of awareness about dementia in Russia is low. This gives us confidence that the company's initiatives in this direction need to be actively developed. We must make sure that people learn to correctly recognize the symptoms of the disease, so that they understand where to seek help, and most importantly, so that they know that dementia can and should be treated. With the help of the data obtained, we will be able to correctly place accents in our future work and identify new aspects that will need to be guided by when developing and implementing our subsequent initiatives."

MEMINI: a social project of the Russian Merz division for dementia patients and their relativesSince 2009, the Russian division of Merz has been supporting the website www.memini.ru – an online portal for people facing the problem of dementia.

  Along with the possibility of informal communication, the portal provides an opportunity to receive specialized consultations from a neurologist, psychologist and lawyer, study various background information about dementia and proper patient care, pass preliminary tests, and also find the address of a specialized clinic in your city. More than 20 thousand users visit the portal every month. In 2013, the number of visitors amounted to 300 thousand people. 

Since 2010, the free printed newspaper MEMINI has been launched. Its pages contain the most important and interesting materials for people who do not always have the necessary knowledge and skills to search for information on the Internet. The edition has a circulation of 70,000 copies .

Within the framework of the project, there are schools for relatives of patients with dementia, giving the opportunity for live communication of people with specialists of various profiles (neurologists, psychologists, lawyers). Schools operate in 20 regions of Russia.

Since 2012, one-time social projects have been organized within the framework of the project, the purpose of which is to change the attitude of society to senile dementia, tell about the symptoms of the disease and warn about the need for therapy. In 2012, the project "SOS: dementia!" took place. In 2013, the book of unusual fairy tales "My grandmother – Yaga" was published. The project was attended by Merz partners, as well as famous actors and TV presenters, journalists, employees of the company and just caring people. In 2014, for the first time in Russia, a mass study of society's attitude to dementia was commissioned by Merz.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru25.09.2014