Huge Rise Forecast In Dementia Cases

The number of people suffering from dementia will increase by 154% in the next 45 years, according to a report by some of the top researchers of the illness in Britain, with the number affected rising from 700,000 today to 1.735m in 2051.

The economy could be crippled by soaring rates of the condition, as the population ages and better cures are found for other illnesses, say the health economists from the Institute of Psychiatry in London and the London School of Economics, who presented the findings to officials from the Treasury and Department of Health.

The full results will be published tomorrow at a conference organised by the Alzheimer’s Society, which commissioned the research. A national strategy with support from across government is now needed or families will be increasingly abandoned to deal with the traumatic and expensive costs of dementia alone, the Alzheimer’s Society said.

The report strongly condemns the “widespread failure” of the government to support people with dementia and their families.