There are 750,000 people with dementia in the UK. By 2021 there will be over 940,000 people living with dementia and this will soar to 1.7 million by 2050.
One in three people over 65 will die with dementia.
More than 60 per cent of all care home residents, aged over 65, have a form of dementia.
There are over 16,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.
These are not just statistics; they represent millions of families with loved ones who require special care, both at home and in nursing homes.
If you are struggling to care for a loved one with dementia it is important to remember you are not alone. Almost 1,000 families like yours have trusted Rumney Care to provide one-on-one home care for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
The word “dementia” is an umbrella term for anything that can cause issues with brain functioning such as confusion, memory loss, or loss of problem solving ability. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia in older persons, but there are many more varieties, including Lewy Body dementia, vascular dementia, or frontal lobe dementia.
Dementia often develops slowly and is not always obvious in the early stages. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive illness. This means that the structure and chemistry of the brain become increasingly damaged over time. Symptoms similar to dementia can be seen in other illnesses. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell apart dementia from the usual mild forgetfulness seen in normal ageing.
Most of us forget things every day, like people’s names or where we put our keys, but this is not necessarily a sign of Alzheimer’s or dementia. In dementia, memory loss is more serious and recurrent than forgetting things occasionally.
There are many reasons why people become forgetful. Some medicines and drugs can affect memory, for example. Depression, anxiety, vitamin deficiency and thyroid problems can also cause forgetfulness, so it’s important to get the right diagnosis.
Families often say that they struggle to understand what doctors mean by dementia. That’s why it’s important to ask the doctor what type of dementia is being diagnosed.