Novartis, a leader in the pharmaceutical industry, recently gave a series of lectures on Alzheimer’s disease, one of the most common forms of dementia, as part of its efforts to spread awareness about the distressing disease in Jordan.

Attendees were briefed on the symptoms of Alzheimer's which is largely under-diagnosed, mostly due to the misconception that it is part of the normal ageing process.

“Not many people realize that Alzheimer’s disease is not part of the natural change in memory, but a disease which can be treated with the right medication,” stated Jordanian Neurologist and associate fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Dr Khaled Hourani.

“Early diagnosis and treatment can help contain the deterioration of people with Alzheimer’s, particularly elderly patients,” he added.  Hourani went on to explain that Norvartis has developed a medicine that helps with patient's cognition, including things like memory, reasoning, communicating, understanding, and overall function.

Treatment of Alzheimer's is essential to prevent patients’ symptoms from worsening, and so it must be followed to the letter, he said.

Management of patients is also essential, as people with Alzheimer’s are in need of a care-giver; it is thus vital to ensure care-givers be properly educated and fully aware of the disease and how it can be treated.

Given the increasing numbers of patients with Alzheimer's disease in Jordan, Dr Hourani recently inaugurated a special clinic for memory scan and diagnosis to treat Alzheimer's-inflicted patients.-TradeArabia News Service