Recently, actor Ranbir Kapoor revealed that his uncle Randhir Kapoor is showing early signs of dementia, a disorder of cognitive functioning where the person has difficulty in thinking, remembering and reasoning while doing daily activities.
Speaking to NDTV, Ranbir said that after watching the movie Sharmaji Namkeen which stars his late father Rishi Kapoor, his uncle Randhir Kapoor asked him to call his father and say that is amazing, thus failing to recollect that his brother is no more.
Ranbir's statement: "My uncle Randhir Kapoor, who is going through an early stage of dementia, and he came to me after the film, said, ‘Tell dad that he is amazing, and where is he, let’s call him’. Art crosses boundaries of medical conditions… And a good piece of storytelling really embodies that."
However, in a recent interview with ETimes, the veteran actor denied all claims made by his nephew Ranbir and said, "Aisa kuch nahi hua. Not at all. I am perfectly fine. I just had COVID sometime ago (in April 2021)."
Sharmaji Namkeen released on March 31 on Amazon Prime. This film is Rishi Kapoor's last film. Parts of the movie which could not be shot with Rishi Kapoor have been shot by Paresh Rawal. Audiences have hailed both Rishi Kapoor and Paresh Rawal for their performances.
Rishi Kapoor died in April 2020 succumbing to a two year long battle with cancer. His brother Rajiv Kapoor had also died in a span of 10 months.
In an interview with TOI in 2021, Randhir Kapoor had said, "The last year has been a very sad time in my life. Sad is really a modest word here; worst would be apt. In a matter of 10 months, I lost both my darling brothers- Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) and Chimpu (Rajiv Kapoor). Also, I lost my mother (Krishna Kapoor) and sister (Ritu Nanda) in the last two-and-a-half years."
Dementia: 55 million people live with dementia worldwide
Dementia is characterised by a deterioration in thinking and remembering and it results from diseases and injuries that affect the brain. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia.
As per the report of World Health Organisation (WHO), currently more than 55 million people live with dementia worldwide, and there are nearly 10 million new cases every year.
It is the 7th leading cause of death worldwide and one of the major causes of disability among older people.
The early symptoms of dementia are forgetfulness, losing track of time, getting lost even in familiar places; as the diseases advances the person may start forgetting the names of people, have difficulty in communicating, will not be able to do personal chores, may start asking questions repeatedly, and may also have difficulty in communicating.
When the disease progresses to a later stage, the person has difficulty in walking, fails to recognise close friends and family members, gets more aggressive and is sometimes unaware of the time and place.
A person with dementia will appear confused and disoriented and a number of other psychological changes like personality changes, depression, anxiety, inappropriate behaviour, paranoia, agitation and hallucinations are also seen in the patient.
Age, sex, gender, family history of dementia, vascular issues, vitamin deficiences, and race are some of the high potential risk factors of dementia.
While dementia is mostly linked to old age, experts have said that its occurrence in young adults can not be ruled out.
As per UK based Alzheimer's Society, young-onset dementia, which is more likely to be inherited, is more likely to cause problems with movement, walking, co-ordination or balance.
