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| December 14, 2008 | Sunday | Zilhaj 15, 1429 |
Updated round-the-clock, with major updates after 10:00 PST (05:00 GMT)
Pakistan mauled by Japan in Asian Junior hockey Sunday, 14 Dec, KUALA LUMPUR: Japan embarrassed Pakistan in the Asian Junior Women’s Hockey Cup with a 17–0 thrashing in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Japan led the first half 3-0 and showed no mercy in the second half to score 14 more goals to maul Pakistan. Earlier, the Pakistan team recorded a win against Thailand, beating them 3-0 on Saturday. Meanwhile China beat Thailand 18-0 and India beat Singapore 8-0. (Posted @ 19:49 PST)
Bush makes surprise farewell visit to Iraq Sunday, 14 Dec, BAGHDAD: US President George W. Bush on Sunday made a farewell visit to Iraq, a place that defines his presidency, just 37 days before he hands the war off to a successor who has pledged to end it. Air Force One landed at Baghdad International Airport in the afternoon, after a secretive Saturday night departure from Washington and an 11-hour flight. In a sign of modest security gains in this war zone, Bush was welcomed with a formal arrival ceremony – a flourish that was not part of his previous three trips to Iraq. (Posted @ 19:00 PST)
Brown pledges to fight terror in Pakistan Sunday, 14 Dec, ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday pledged nine million dollars to Pakistan as part of a ‘comprehensive anti-terror programme.’ Britain and Pakistan would work together under a new agreement to ‘ensure everything is done to make sure terrorists are denied any safe havens in Pakistan,’ Brown said after meeting President Asif Ali Zardari here. Brown was in Islamabad after visiting India and Afghanistan on a tour of the region to discuss security in the wake of the Mumbai attacks. (Posted @ 18:30 PST)
45 Egyptians killed in bus crash Sunday, 14 Dec, BAHRUT: At least 45 Egyptians were killed when their bus ran off the road and plunged into a canal south of Cairo on Sunday, a security official said. At least 60 people were in the public bus when it swerved into the canal to avoid an oncoming truck as it was heading from the capital Cairo to the city of Minya, the official said. 'Forty-five bodies were retrieved from the coach and 12 people were injured, and rescue workers are still working,' the official told AFP, adding that the death toll was likely to rise. (Posted @ 15:59 PST)
Bomb blast kills three policemen in Afghanistan Sunday, 14 Dec, KANDAHAR: Three policemen were killed and 12 others were wounded on Sunday in a bomb blast in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, a local official said. The escalation of violence in Afghanistan this year, the bloodiest period since the Taliban was ousted in 2001, has raised fears about the prospects of stability in the country despite an increasing number of foreign troops. (Posted @ 15:14 PST)
Brown pledges to fight terror in Pakistan Sunday, 14 Dec, ISLAMABAD: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Sunday pledged nine million dollars to Pakistan as part of a ‘comprehensive anti-terror programme.’ Britain and Pakistan would work together under a new agreement to ‘ensure everything is done to make sure terrorists are denied any safe havens in Pakistan,’ Brown said after meeting President Asif Ali Zardari here. (Posted @ 15:07 PST)
Govt downplays Indian jets’ airspace breach Sunday, 14 Dec, ISLAMABAD: The government has downplayed the Indian violations of its airspace, suggesting on Sunday that they were ‘inadvertent’ and ‘technical’. Pakistani officials said Indian aircraft entered two to four kilometres inside Azad Kashmir and over Lahore on Saturday. Pakistani jets chased the Indian aircraft back over the border, authorities here said. (Posted @ 15:05 PST)
Taylor century leads West Indies fightback Sunday, 14 Dec, DUNEDIN, New Zealand: Defiant West Indies tail-ender Jerome Taylor scored a maiden century on the fourth day of a rain-hit first Test here Sunday to swing the advantage away from New Zealand. The West Indies finished with 340 in reply to New Zealand's 365 and the home side were 44 for two in their second innings at the close after Daren Powell took two late wickets with consecutive balls. (Posted @ 14:57 PST)
Sri Lankan troops move closer to take Tiger HQ Sunday, 14 Dec, COLOMBO: Sri Lanka's military carried out an intense aerial bombardment as ground troops were poised to overrun the Tamil Tiger rebels' political headquarters, the defence ministry said Sunday. Air force planes carried out nine bombing sorties against positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the district of Kilinochchi on Saturday, the ministry said. (Posted @ 14:40 PST)
England set India 387 runs to win first Test Sunday, 14 Dec, CHENNAI: England batsmen Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood recorded centuries on Sunday to effectively put the first test out of India's reach. England set India a challenging target of 387 from a minimum 126 overs after declaring their second innings closed at 311 for nine shortly after tea on day four after the fall of Matt Prior for 33. (Posted @ 14:24 PST)
Israel keeps Gaza sealed off after rocket fire Sunday, 14 Dec, JERUSALEM: Israel said on Sunday it was keeping border crossings with the Gaza Strip sealed off after rocket fire from the impoverished Palestinian territory. 'This decision was taken after rocket and mortar fire on Saturday towards southern Israel,' said Peter Lerner, spokesman for the coordinator of Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories. (Posted @ 14:22 PST)
Singh wants normalised relations with Pakistan Sunday, 14 Dec, KHUNDRU: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he wants ‘normalised’ relations with Pakistan amid rising tensions between the two nations. Talking at an election rally in occupied Kashmir on Sunday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he hopes relations between the neighbours can be ‘normalised,’ but that this ‘cannot happen as long as our neighbouring country allows its soil to be used against us.’ (Posted @ 14:11 PST)
Britain could question ‘Pakistani Mumbai suspects’ ISLAMABAD: British police may ask to interview ‘Pakistani suspects’ in the Mumbai attacks in which at least one British citizen died, a government source told AFP on Sunday. They may wish to question ‘anyone who is suspected’ in Pakistan of involvement in the attacks in connection with crimes against Britons, said the source, who requested anonymity. (Posted 13:48 PST)
Court stays bar on KSE trading till 16th KARACHI: The Sindh High Court stayed the removal of the floor placed on trading in the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) till Dec 16 when an application moved by two brokerage houses for an interim injunction against the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) will come up for hearing. A suit has been instituted by M/s Al Hoqani Securities and Investment Corporation (Pvt) Limited and M/s Creative Capital Securities (Pvt) Limited, seeking cancellation of contracts and transactions executed under the Continuous Funding System-MK II, as defined in regulations framed by the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL). (Posted 12:43 PST)
Brown says LiT to blame for Mumbai attacks NEW DELHI: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown headed from India to Pakistan on Sunday in the latest bid by global leaders to ease tensions between the rival nations after last month's Mumbai attacks. After talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, Brown backed India's accusations that the Pakistan-based militant group Laskhar-i-Taiba (LiT) was behind the attacks, in which ten gunmen killed 163 people. (Posted 11:51 PST)
No move to declare Pakistan a terrorist state: US WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said that neither the United States nor the United Nations have ever considered declaring Pakistan a terrorist state. At a Friday afternoon briefing, spokesman Sean McCormack noted that Pakistan had banned Jamaatud Dawa because it felt it was in its interest to do so and not because it felt that the United States was about to declare it a terrorist state. (Posted 09:20 PST)
Delhi looking for scapegoat: FM Qureshi PARIS: Pakistan on Saturday rejected Indian accusations that it was the ‘epicentre of terrorism’ and accused some Indian leaders of using it as a convenient scapegoat for their own political agendas, according to AFP. ‘Because of domestic political compulsions, some Indian leaders have been looking for a scapegoat’ for the recent Mumbai attacks, the Pakistani foreign minister said when asked to react to the Indian prime minister’s accusation. (Posted 08:55 PST)
India provided no evidence against Dawa: FM Qureshi PARIS: Shah Mahmoud Qureshi said there was no evidence that Jamaatud Dawa was engaged in any acts of violence, according to AFP. ‘If there is evidence (of terror activities) we will take action,’ he said when asked about the Jamaat, accused of being a front for Lashkar-i-Taiba, the group India blames for recent attacks in Mumbai. (Posted 08:32 PST)
Indian fighter jets violate Pakistani Airspace: PAF KARACHI: A Pakistan air-force spokesman confirmed that fighter jets from the Indian air-force violated the Kashmir and Lahore sectors of Pakistan’s airspace on Saturday. ‘Both the Indian aircraft entered into Pakistan's airspace between two to four nautical miles at two different sectors,’ Air Commodore Humyun Viqar told Associated Press of Pakistan news agency. He said Pakistani jets had responded, forcing the Indian aircraft to turn back. (Posted 01:05 PST)
fdfd By Rudina Xhaferri and Khalid Iqbal
Education is one of the most important ways to transform Pakistan from a developing to a developed country. Education is not only an engine of economic and intellectual development but is also critical for maintaining a population in good health and protecting it from disease. Of all diseases, the age associated neurodegenerative disease known as Alzheimer’s disease, that accounts for 75 per cent of all cases of old age dementia, is a case in point for which Pakistan should invest more education. Studies have shown that the higher the level of education, the more the cognitive reserve and the less the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
It is estimated that every 71 seconds there is a new case of dementia worldwide. If you know someone who is suffering from a type of dementia, the most common cause of it being Alzheimer’s disease, you might be familiar with its severity. However, there are many reasons to talk about dementia, a disease that because it mostly affects people of 60 years and older is often mistaken to be a normal part of aging. By 2050, the estimated number of people over 60 will rise to two billion globally, making the prevalence and the economic burden of dementia of great concern.
What is my name?
Occasional memory lapses happen to everyone. We have trouble remembering the names of people we do not see very often, our first grade teacher, or an address where we used to live years ago. As we age, our brains may shrink a bit and some nerve cells will die. In everyday life, this is translated into mild memory impairment and slower information recalls or processing. Such cognitive declines related to old age is normal and not the begining of dementia. On the other hand, severe forgetfulness such as failure to remember names of family members, common objects, or other vital details comprises the signs of dementia.
“Dementia” comes from Latin. It literally means “mind departure” or “a mind away”. It is characterised by confusion, disorientation and intellectual impairment. Some forms of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (the latter also known as the human form of so-called mad cow disease) are cortical dementias, where the brain’s cortex, or outer layer is damaged. Other dementias involve damages in other parts of the brain, such as dementia pugilistica which is caused by head injuries (and commonly known as the boxer’s syndrome), Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, vascular and frontotemporal dementias. Regardless of the type of dementia, it is estimated that one in five of these individuals, if left untreated, will pose a risk to their safety or that of the people whom they live with. In people 65 and older, Alzeheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.
What is Alzheimer’s?
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative brain disease that might start with slight memory loss and confusion, but it eventually leads to irreversible mental impairment that destroys a person’s ability to remember, reason, learn and imagine, and it will kill eventually. The most common signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease include increasing and persistent forgetfulness, difficulties with abstract thinking, difficulty finding the right word, disorientation, loss of judgment, difficulty in performing familiar tasks and personality changes.
Individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s in addition to not recognising their loved ones, often distrust people as well, and withdraw socially into a lost lonely world. They feel hopeless, confused and unable to ask or receive help, even from those who are most willing to offer. Thus, both patients and their families and friends become very frustrated with the inability to control these changes of personality and memory. A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease means that nearly all brain functions, including memory, movement, language, judgment, behaviour, and abstract thinking are affected to some extent.
In later stages of Alzheimer’s, individuals with this disease sometimes become anxious or aggressive toward themselves or others as a result of the loss of judgment. The greatest difficulty with diagnosing Alzheimer’s properly and in a timely fashion is the slow progress of its symptoms.
In addition to knowing and understanding the differences between the consequences of a natural aging process and the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, often denial of this disease from individuals developing the condition plays an important role in preventing a diagnosis. Even family members might ignore the early signs, missing the opportunities to seek early medical help. The estimated average length of time from a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s to death is seven to 10 years. Currently there is no cure for this cruel disease, but there are medications that assist patients with their symptoms, and make the quality of their life and that of their loved ones better. Understanding the disease is crucial to learning how to best deal with it.
Pakistan’s numbers
The estimated percentage of 65 years and over people in Pakistan is 4.1 per cent (2006 est.). Due to a lack of research and the cultural context, it is very difficult to get an accurate number of people suffering from this disease. However, the extrapolated prevalence of people with Alzheimer’s disease in Pakistan is calculated to be 2,341,122, which is more than the entire population of Latvia, for example.
Recent studies in developing countries have shed light on the challenges of evaluating the accuracy of global statistics for people with dementia. This is the case especially when it comes to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, since doctors use tools such as interviews and intellectual tests, rather than medical equipment such as one would do for other medical problems, like high blood pressure. Cultural barriers, stigmas and myths are often hard to overcome when surveying in developing countries.
The most recent research study conducted by the 10/66 Dementia Research Group and published in the journal The Lancet this year, suggests that levels of dementia in the developing world may be much closer to those in the developed world than previously believed. The 10/66 Dementia Research Group’s name refers to the fact that 66 per cent of all people with dementia live in developing countries, where less than 10 per cent of the research money is spent.
Although according to the statistics, only 4.1 per cent are at risk of dementia in Pakistan currently, this disease affects more people than just those who live with it, as the pressure on the families of the patients is very high. The estimated worldwide costs for dementia care is US$248 billion per year. Even averaging in lower costs for developing countries, the cost comes to $9,000 per person per year.
In addition, by the year 2050, Pakistan will become the third most populous country of the world with an estimated population of 380 million, leaving behind the United States, Indonesia, Brazil and Russia. The estimated 36 million young people aged 15-24 that currently live in Pakistan, the most that have ever lived at any other time in its history (Population Council, 2004), will be at risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by the year 2050. At that time, the life expectancy is expected to rise and thus the economic burden of treating patients with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia will increase immensely.
Therefore, it is very important to start investing today in public health campaigns with programmes that will increase the awareness of dementia and academic programmes in Neuroscience that will produce trained medical staff able to treat patients and offer assistance to their families. Timely intervention from the government in the form of increased funding in education and health will ease the current and future cost of treating people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, and most importantly will increase the quality of life of individuals affected by dementia, and their families.
Taking control
Early detection of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is vital but because of the stigma surrounding dementias it is very difficult for people to notice or accept that they may be suffering from the disease. Scientific research has shown that although declines in memory and other cognitive abilities are very serious, they are by no means inevitable or irreversible.
If patients with dementias are helped to control their memory lapses through medical and physical exercises, they gain a greater sense of control of their intellectual functioning. It has been found that the risk of Alzheimer’s disease is two to four times higher in those who have fewer years of education, as compared to those who have more years of education.
Advanced education and an active life filled with physical exercise, intellectual curiosity, and proper diet has been shown to have protective effects against dementia. In addition, people with higher levels of education are more likely to better adjust with their situation, in an active participatory way that benefits them. As preventive measures, older adults are often advised to engage in mentally stimulating activities as well as staying physically fit as a way of reducing their risk of dementia. Thus, for all generations, a word of advice: keep learning!
The writers work for the Promotion of Education in Pakistan Foundation, Inc, USA.
info@pepfoundation.org
Founder: Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Editor: Abbas Nasir
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