For both patients and those entrusted with their care, coping with Alzheimer's disease is a task rife with worry, frustration and heartbreak. To help make it easier, a recently-created phone line (010-3303678) offers knowledgeable advice and information on what to expect, where to go and what to do.

Inaugurated on February 20th, 2002, the line - whose phones are manned by neurologists, psychiatrists, lawyers, and trained volunteers - attracted well over 1,000 callers in its first two months of operation. Issues raised by callers were myriad, including questions on diagnosis, care, medical insurance, medication, heredity, prevention, and how to locate long-term care providers.

The goal of the new helpline, set up the Hellenic Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, the Alzheimer's Caregivers Association and the Greek Psycho-geriatric Association, is to provide 24 hour-a-day medical and legal advice, referrals and moral support to people caring for Alzheimers sufferers, especially in crisis situations. The initiative was sponsored by the Novartis pharmaceutical company. Caregivers also have the option of setting up individual appointments in order to discuss their personal situation.

An extensive pursuit
The helpline is part of a broad effort to improve the lot of Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers during their struggle with the progressively worsening symptoms of the disease. This includes educating health professionals in Alzheimer's screening and diagnostic methods, as well as on the needs of Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. Also planned is the creation of a comprehensive registry of health professionals and institutions (such as old age homes) in order to facilitate the bringing together of patients and resources. A related website is also under construction and due to be up in June.

In Thessaloniki, meanwhile, the Greek Alzheimer's Association recently opened an 'Alzheimer's cafe', which organizes meetings where sufferers and their families can discuss their problems. Currently, Greece has no psycho-geriatric centres where dementia sufferers can stay for short periods of time, nor day-care centres where patients are cared for and occupied during the day. The situation is set to change, as funds from the Third Community Support Framework have been dedicated to the creation of five support centres by 2006.

A disease's identity
At wit's end Alzheimer's occurs when cells in part of the brain degenerate and gradually die off. Though its severity and symptoms vary from individual to individual, the course of the disease can roughly be broken down into three stages.

In its first stage, the condition is characterized by moderate problems with memory, attention and spatial orientation, so that the sufferer may, for example, find himself forgetting names and telephone numbers, losing the thread of a conversation and getting lost in familiar environments. This stage can be extremely stressful for the victim, who is painfully aware of what is happening.

In the second stage, these problems become more pronounced; sufferers often have difficulty recognizing familiar faces, become unable to understand the spoken and written word or perform basic daily activities such as washing and dressing. They also tend to suffer abrupt and frequent changes of mood, becoming stubborn, agitated or aggressive.

In the third stage, the patients cognitive functions are almost completely gone, reflexes are lost and they're unable to walk, sit, smile and swallow. Nevertheless, even at this stage patients tend to respond well to touch and familiar, soft voices.

Daunting facts
It is estimated that Alzheimer's strikes 1 in 25 individuals over 65, while the odds rise to 1 in 5 for those over 80. In Greece, about 6% of those aged more than 70 suffer from the disease and 9% from all forms of dementia. There is as yet no cure, but about 10% of Alzheimer's cases can be stabilized and even improve with appropriate treatment.

On average, patients live from 8 to 10 years after they are diagnosed, their condition progressively deteriorating. More often than not, caregivers are close family members, who not only must deal with the long-term physical and logistical demands of caring for an Alzheimer's sufferer, but who are also condemned to watch as their loved ones slowly become strangers who no longer recognize them and whose behaviour can often be aggressive and hostile.