Elderly people in Britain who suffer from dementia are hard to detect today as they fare better in intelligence tests than their predecessors, a study has found.
Dementia, which involves forgetfulness, mostly affects people who are in their 70s.
The H70 study by Sweden’s University of Gothenburg provides data on symptoms that experts used to predict the development of dementia. It also probed if the symptoms have changed in recent generations.
The study involved the 70-year-olds who have been extensively examined over the years, including tests that measure memory, speed, language, logic and spatial awareness, reports the journal Neurology.
Alzheimer's
“Using the test results, we’ve tried to identify people who are at risk of developing dementia,” says Simona Sacuiu, of the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Sweden.
“While this worked well for the group of 70-year-olds born in 1901-02, the same tests didn’t offer any clues about who will develop dementia in the later generation of 70-year-olds born in 1930.”
The 70-year-olds, who were born in 1930 and examined in 2000, performed better in the intelligence tests than their predecessors born in 1901-02 and examined in 1971.
There were no differences in test results between 70-year-olds who developed dementia and those who did not over the next five years in the group born in 1930 and examined in 2000, while many of the tests identified early signs of dementia in the group born in 1901-02.
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Dementia is our most pressing, and costly, medical and social problem. With more than three-quarters of a million people already living with the condition, the cost of caring for them is approaching £20 billion a year. By 2025, the number of sufferers will reach a million, by the middle of the century 1.7 million, and the expense will rise commensurately. A coherent national plan for dealing with dementia is therefore long overdue and yesterday’s announcement by an alliance of 45 organisations – including the Department of Health – setting out a new approach for its treatment is an important step in that direction.
Their pledge to reduce the use of antipsychotic drugs to subdue patients recognises that these “chemical coshes” work only for a limited number of patients (about one in five) and can be positively harmful for the rest: they are thought to cause about 1,800 deaths a year. There will also be a new emphasis on early diagnosis, better hospital care and improvement in the quality of life in care homes. While it all makes good sense, there is a crucial piece missing from the jigsaw. Research into dementia remains woefully underfunded.
As part of a government-backed drive to transform treatment of the condition, charities, public bodies and private companies have each made pledges to improve patients’ lives.
The Department of Health (DoH) and several care home groups have promised to reduce the use of anti-psychotic drugs to subdue dementia sufferers.
Experts have condemned the drugs and studies have shown they increase patients’ chances of dying.
An estimated 144,000 sufferers are prescribed antipsychotics to keep them quiet in care homes, causing around 1,800 deaths a year. The DoH will audit their use.
The Dementia Action Alliance includes, among others, the Royal College of GPs, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Age UK, Nice, Bupa, the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, the Alzheimer’s Society and various care home groups.
Writing to The Daily Telegraph, 25 of those involved – including care minister Paul Burstow – call for urgent action, saying: “With 750,000 people living with the condition in the UK and the cost to the economy already reaching £20 billion a year, there’s no time to delay.”
They describe their pledges as the basis for a “national action plan”, adding: “Our goal is a future where people can get an early diagnosis, receive the help they need and ultimately where research delivers a cure.”
It is estimated that a million people will have dementia within 15 years, rising to 1.7 million by 2051 as the population ages.