Evaluation of diet and life style in etiopathogenesis of senile dementia: A survey study

Mind and body are inseparable entities and influences each other until death. Many factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, negative thoughts, unhealthy life style, unwholesome diet etc., disturb mental and physical wellbeing. Senile dementia is the mental deterioration, i.e, loss of intellectual ability associated with old age. It causes progressive deterioration of mental faculties, e.g., memory, intellect, attention, thinking, comprehension and personality, with preservation of normal level of consciousness. Two major types of senile dementia have been identified, namely that due to generalized atrophy in the cortical area of the brain (Alzheimer's type) and that due to vascular disorders mainly due to stroke. According to DSM-IV (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders), the essential feature of dementia is the development of multiple cognitive deficits that include memory impairment and at least one of the following cognitive disturbances such as aphasia, apraxia, agnosia, or a disturbance in executive function. For the present study, a standardized questionnaire in the form of proforma incorporating types of foods (madhura, amla and lavana rasayukta ahara etc.) and life style (divaswapna, ratrijagarana and manasika bhavas etc) is prepared. To assess manasika bhava, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale, and standardized gradations of anumana pariksha of manasika bhavas mentioned by Charaka at Vimana Sthana 4/8 were adopted. In this study, most of the patients had disturbed sleep, tendency to indulge in defective dietary habits and kapha vitiating diets and life style. On Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, patients had anxiety, tension, depression, difficulty in concentration, and memory. On Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, these patients had anxiety, depression, and hypochondriasis. On Brief Psychiatry Rating Scale, psychological factors affected include: anxiety, depression, somatic concern and tension, etc. The data reflects that unwholesome diet and disturbed mental health plays an important role in etiopathogenesis of senile dementia.