Calls For Action As More Than One Million People Will Have Dementia By 2036, Study Reveals

Worrying figures show that more than one million people will be living with dementia in the next 20 years.

There are currently 850,000 people living with the condition, according to King’s College and the London School of Economics. Of that number, 540,000 are living at home.

Care and treatment of the condition currently costs £26 billion.

It has been revealed today that one million people will be affected by dementia by 2036 according the Alzheimer’s Society.

The Office of Health Economics have also revealed that one in three people born in 2018 will develop the disease, currently the leading cause of death for UK women and the second highest cause for men.

If you, a family member or a close loved one are faced with a dementia diagnosis, please visit Counselling Directory for support and practical advice.

Staggeringly, 1.3 million people will be living at home with dementia by 2050 according to figures revealed on The Victoria Derbyshire Show.

The programme also gave video cameras three years ago to three patients profiling each of their journeys living with the condition.

Wendy Mitchell, Keith Oliver and Christopher Devas, returned to the show after first revealing their story.

Veronica Devas, Christopher’s wife, says her husband was diagnosed in 2008 and that he is unable to remember her name.

She said: “With dementia you don’t look disabled, you don’t look ill. Christopher can walk.

It's sad, very sad, but you mustn't dwell on that because otherwise you'd be like that all the time.

"There’s no care plan given to most people until they hit a crisis"

Keith Oliver, who has dementia, says it is appalling that those with Alzheimer's are discharged at the point of diagnosis #VictoriaLIVE pic.twitter.com/4K89JewmiL

— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) March 1, 2018

Baroness Greengross, former Director General of Age Concern, says she is worried that stigma surrounding dementia still exists in society.

She said: “People don’t talk about it, a lot of people are frightened of dementia.

“It’s part of life, a lot of people will have some form of dementia and we should just accept it and talk about it. By not talking about it, you avoid the understanding of those around you.”

Wendy Mitchell believes she was forced to adapt her life to the condition following her diagnosis in 2014.

She said: “I was definitely forced to move, I used to live in the busy centre of York.

“I hope everybody realises that dementia isn’t just about memory, lots of our other senses are affected.

“Hearing was one of my first ones, it became too chaotic and made me too anxious to be in the centre. I had to move somewhere quiet. Financially, people often forget when you’re diagnosed with early onset, you still have a mortgage to pay.

“I had to move to a cheaper part of the country.”

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