As a study suggests abstaining from alcohol in middle age could raise the risk of dementia in later life, here are the answers to some key questions about the condition and its impact on sufferers and society.
– What is dementia?
Dementia is a term covering symptoms caused by a group of diseases. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause, but other forms include vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and frontotemporal dementia.
– How is it treated?
At the moment there is no cure for dementia; however, there are number of lifestyle choices that can help reduce risk factors. They include not smoking, eating a balanced diet, staying active physically and mentally, and keeping weight down. Alzheimer’s Research UK also recommends not drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
– How many people in Britain suffer from dementia?
An estimated 850,000 people are living with dementia in the UK. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, making up 62% of the total.
– Who gets it?
The majority of people with dementia are over 65; however, more than 40,000 people under 65 have dementia in the UK. Dementia has a bigger impact on women, with more than 500,000 living with the condition in Britain. It is the leading cause of death among women in the UK.
– What is the impact on services and how much does it cost?
A quarter of hospital beds are estimated to be occupied by people over 65 with dementia. The annual cost of dementia to the UK economy is more than £26 billion.
– How is this forecast to change?
In the UK, the number of people over the age of 85 is set to double from 1.3 million in the next 20 years. In that time the number of people with dementia is expected to grow rapidly. By 2025 there could be more than a million Britons suffering from dementia.
– How much will it cost?
The cost of dementia in Britain is expected to more than double in the next 25 years to £55 billion in 2040.
Figures from Alzheimer’s Research UK
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel