
Dementia rates declining in UK
pharmafile | July 17, 2013 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Alzheimer's, UK, brain, dementia
A new study has found that the rate of dementia in Britain has decreased over the past two decades, contrary to popular belief that the condition is on the rise.
The report published this week in The Lancet, found that those born more recently have a lower risk of prevalent dementia than those born earlier in the twentieth century.
The study, funded by the UK Medical Research Council, found that only 6.5% of the sample people interviewed in Cambridgeshire, Nottingham and Newcastle between 2008 and 2011 showed symptoms of dementia.
A similar study conducted between 1989 and 1994 pointed to results above 8%, the study showed, indicating that the rate of dementia is slowing.
“One interpretation of the findings is that general health and health management has improved to the extent that it has helped reduce dementia risk, which is encouraging,” wrote Eric Karran, director of research at the group.
This latest study also confirmed that women are more susceptible to dementia, with around 8% of women estimated to have the disease – compared to 4.9% of men.
The study interviewed 7,796 people aged 65 and older, and the researchers compared the results with those of a similar study conducted between 1989 and 1994 in the same locations.
According to figures from Alzheimer’s Research UK, dementia costs the British economy around £23 billion a year, and affects around 700,000 people.
But the Alzheimer’s Society says that there could be as many as 1.7 million people living in the UK with dementia in 2051.
This, it says, comes down to the fact that so-called baby boomers’ children will have reached old age by this point, and will be affected by conditions such as obesity, which increases the risk of dementia.
Ben Adams
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