There are occasions when a person becomes mentally incapacitated over a prolonged period of time and their physical ability also diminishes as a result of their illness. Two thirds of dementia sufferers in the UK live in the community and are cared for by 500,000 informal carers who lack support from the NHS. An informal carer’s life is often consumed by the job of looking after a dementia sufferer, with every waking moment dedicated to helping them.  This role is tiring, demanding, frustrating and very restrictive.  Even with the support of other family members and friends, the responsibility to provide care is enormous and can place a huge burden onto the family.

There are calls from a number of support groups and charities in the UK for dementia to be acknowledged as a disease in the same way that coronary conditions are recognised and for more support and funding to be provided to dementia sufferers and their carers.

According to recent studies, dementia is now more likely to endanger or cut short someone’s life than coronary heart disease. Advances in medical treatment have meant that heart disease can be treated and more people recover from heart attacks or have their lives prolonged with each new drug therapy.  Unfortunately the same parallels cannot be drawn for dementia.

Carers of people with dementia often view the disease as a killer and a recent study by the National Audit Office has indicated that just as in the treatment of other life threatening conditions, the early diagnosis and better treatment of dementia sufferers and their carers can result in a better standard of care and massive cost savings to the NHS.

More than 700,000 people in the UK have dementia and this is forecast to rise to over one million by 2025. Neil Hunt chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society says, “We’re delighted that this hard-hitting report echoes the Alzheimer’s Society’s calls for dementia to be made a national priority. The human and economic cost of dementia can’t be ignored – one in three older people will end their lives with a form of dementia.

It is absolutely crucial that people with dementia get diagnosed as early as possible so that they and their families get the information and support they need. We must develop health and social care services that can respond to the challenge of dementia. A lot of money is being spent on inadequate dementia care – we need to plan now to make better use of resources. Dementia is like cancer in the 1950s – we must take strides forward in reducing the stigma of dementia.”

The report calls for dementia to be regarded as a priority and for more specialist services that can respond to the challenges of the disease to be introduced. The NAO found that health and or social care professionals lack the training and the knowledge to provide advice on services and support that may help to improve people’s quality of life.