Doctors have cautioned family members to be on the lookout for signs of Alzheimer’s disease in elderly relatives, seeing if they are forgetful, such as forgetting the way home and repeatedly asking about the same things.
Family members brought an 83-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) to Taichung’s Asian University Hospital when they noticed that he was beginning to act strangely, department of neurology director Wang Hsin-fan (王馨範) said.
When Lin retired, it was just him and his wife at home, the Nantou County family said, adding that the younger generation had all moved out of town for work.
When his wife passed away several years ago, Lin was in the house alone, they said.
At first, he seemed fine, they said, adding that he would still go to the park and leave the house to socialize.
The family said the borough warden called them to say that neighbors had sometimes found Lin unkempt and wandering around alleyways as if he could not find his way home.
When the warden visited, he found that Lin had excellent recollection of past events in the borough, he told the family.
However, Lin could not recall what had happened just that morning, the warden said, adding that despite it being 3pm, Lin keep asking if the warden had eaten dinner.
Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, Wang said, adding that there is a reversible type of dementia and an irreversible type.
Reversible dementia is due to anemia, an electrolyte imbalance, and normal pressure hydrocephalus, or other metabolic problems, he said, adding that when the symptoms subside, this type of dementia should improve.
However, the irreversible type is due to degenerative diseases — such as Alzheimer’s, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia or mixed dementia — which gradually cause people to lose their cognitive and motor functions, Wang said.
One in five people aged 80 and above are diagnosed with dementia, with many of them having lost a substantial number of brain cells by the time their family discovers their illness, he said.
Older people should have regular checkups to ensure that symptoms of dementia are caught early, he added.
Caring for those suffering from dementia is a long and difficult process, he said.
Wang said that both the patient and family members should receive counseling or attend workshops on how to best care for people with dementia, and how to handle abnormal behavior and emotions with patience, so as to mitigate conflict and ensure that those with dementia receive the best care possible.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach