Research by University College London and Liverpool University have found the rates of dementia are falling and this is down to medical advancements and people taking better care of their health. It means 35, ooo people may be spared dementia each year. Around 800,000 have dementia in Britain and had rates remained the same that would have increased to 1.9 million by 2040 whereas the actual figure is likely to be 1.2 million. James Pickett (Head of Research at the Alzheimers Society) believes make progress is due to better cardiovascular care.
Dementia costs Britain £23 billion a year and this figure will rise. This clearly has policy and planning implications for the NHS as people will live longer. Although rates of cases are declining due to an ageing population the total number of cases are rising.
Our owner (Mark Booker) commented “it is good news that dementia rates are falling. As a care company we are seeing more people with memory loss and it is tends to be something which cruelly gets worse over time putting enormous pressure on families. Whilst the results of the research are useful it is becoming clear that taking care of yourself physically by exercising, not smoking, a good diet, drinking in moderation helps to ward off a large number of diseases. I also believe that social care is woefully underfunded and many people have to rely on family as professional services are too stretched.”
