Music concert draws attention to Alzheimer's disease

MUMBAI: Leading musicians from Mumbai hosted an event to commemorate World Mental Health Day October 10. The soiree drew particular attention to patients suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's.
Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, Leslie Lewis and Shilpa Rao joined this initiative led by psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria and Aziz's wife Bina. Other singers included Runa Rizvi, who is the daughter of ghazal artistes Rajkumar and Indrani Rizvi, Amika Shail and Sumeet Tappoo.
Given that Jalota's repertoire most often includes bhajans and ghazals, he was likely a little surprised when a member of the audience rose and danced to his song. All the artistes joined in for a finale set to 'Damadam mast kalandar'.
Dr Chhabria who runs a mental health centre said that music was known to help and heal patients. ""It takes one song, one rhythm to bring back a thousand memories. We have come together to increase awareness on dementia as most of us will go through it someday.''
Bina Aziz lost her own mother to Alzheimer's so this initiative is particularly dear to her heart. She said, ""To see my mother lose her memory and become totally dependent was not easy. The best way we can take care of such patients is by keeping them in a positive healthy environment and doing our best to make them physically comfortable. They often drift back into their past and that's what they enjoy. They know nothing of the present and look forward to nothing either.''
Aziz read an article on how music heals dementia and called Dr Chhabria for consultation. ""She had some wonderful stories to share on how music has helped dementia patients so we decided to start music therapy on World Mental Health Day. We will do this on a regular basis,'' she said.
Early symptoms of dementia show up as short-term memory loss. As the disease advances, patients report confusion, irritability, aggression, mood swings, trouble with language and long-term memory loss. The sufferer may withdraw from family and society. Gradually, bodily functions are lost, ultimately leading to death.