Dementia is becoming an increasingly common
topic amongst news stories on health and a poll has revealed that nearly 60% of
over 50s in the UK are more scared of developing dementia than cancer. The
ageing population means more people are being diagnosed as they are living
longer. However, a health study reported this week that twice as many people in
the UK are developing dementia before the age of 65. The research showed that
there are thousands of early-onset dementia sufferers in their 40s, as well as
more than 700 in their 30s!
Dementia is a term used to describe a set of
symptoms that are caused by brain conditions, the most common form being
Alzheimer’s disease. Such diseases do not only affect the elderly, and
therefore, need to be recognised in younger generations. Early symptoms of
dementia include: lack of initiative/interest, changes in personality/mood,
misplacing things, problems with keeping track of things, poor judgement,
distortion of time or place, language problems, difficulty performing familiar
tasks (e.g. dressing), and the most obvious symptom – memory loss. However,
younger people with these symptoms may be reluctant to report such symptoms to
the doctor, as they may be afraid of the stigma surrounding dementia. Therefore,
they may fear that they will be discriminated against, especially in the
workplace.
It was also reported this week by researchers
from the Alzheimer’s Society that patients with dementia are effectively paying
a “dementia tax”. They found that on average £32,242 was spent a year on care
for a patient with dementia, but only around one third came from the NHS or
council funds. The other two-thirds came from private care services or in the
form of unpaid care. Those with cancer or heart problems get all their care for
paid by the NHS, which seems unfair. However, the cost of caring for those with
dementia is increasing due to the ageing population, so it would be extremely
costly to the NHS to pay the full cost of care.
Dementia has also been in the news this week
for being linked to use of anxiety and sleeping pills. This was found in a
study of 2,000 people aged over 66 with Alzheimer’s disease in Quebec, Canada, compared
with 7,000 healthy individuals of the same age. They found that the use of
benzodiazepines for longer than the recommended 12 weeks was linked to a 51%
increased risk of dementia. However, they did not find an underlying reason
behind the link and suggested a limitation of the study was that anxiety and
sleep disturbance are early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
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