Dementia is to blame for one in 10 deaths in the UK as charity calls cruel, memory robbing disease the ‘biggest health crisis of our time’

• Data shows 74,261 Brits died from the memory-robbing conditions in 2022
• However, the figure vastly under-estimates the true toll of the disease

Dementia was to blame for more than one in 10 deaths in the UK last year, making it the nation’s biggest killer.

Alzheimer’s Research UK called the memory-robbing disease ‘the biggest health crisis of our time’.

Its data shows 74,261 people died from dementia in 2022, seven per cent more than the 69,178 logged in 2021. Of the total, more than 48,000 were women.

However, the charity warned that the figures vastly under-estimate the true toll of the disease, as it only accounts for patients who received a formal diagnosis. 

It called for any drugs ‘deemed safe and effective’ to treat dementia and Alzheimer’s — the most common form — to be made available on the NHS as soon as possible.

Dementia plagues nearly 1million Brits and 7million Americans. Symptoms can include struggling to learn new tasks, finding it hard to take part in conversations and getting unusually sad, anxious or frightened

Data from Alzheimer’s Research UK shows 74,261 people died from the memory-robbing conditions in 2022, seven per cent more than the 69,178 logged in 2021 

What is Alzheimer’s and how is it treated? 

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, in which build-up of abnormal proteins causes nerve cells to die.

This disrupts the transmitters that carry messages, and causes the brain to shrink. 

More than 5million people suffer from the disease in the US, where it is the 6th leading cause of death, and more than 1 million Britons have it.

WHAT HAPPENS?

As brain cells die, the functions they provide are lost. That includes memory, orientation and the ability to think and reason. The progress of the disease is slow and gradual. On average, patients live five to seven years after diagnosis, but some may live for ten to 15 years.

EARLY SYMPTOMS:

• Loss of short-term memory
• Disorientation
• Behavioral changes
• Mood swings
• Difficulties dealing with money or making a phone call 

HOW IT IS TREATED?

There is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, some treatments are available that help alleviate some of the symptoms. One of these is Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors which helps brain cells communicate to one another. 

Another is menantine which works by blocking a chemical called glutamate that can build-up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease inhibiting mental function. 

Source: Alzheimer’s Association and the NHS

The charity calculated the UK death toll by adding together figures from UK statistics bodies.

The Office for National Statistics had already found that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease led to 65,967 deaths in England and Wales last year.

The Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency logged 2,017 deaths, while National Records of Scotland data showed there were 6,277 fatalities.

After Alzheimer’s and dementia, heart disease, respiratory disease and cerebrovascular disease are the UK’s biggest killers. 

According to the NHS, about 944,000 people are living with dementia in the UK.

Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said the data ‘paints a stark picture of the scale and impact of dementia across the UK’ but is ‘unsurprising’.

She added: ‘We fear these figures are likely an underestimate because many people with dementia don’t even receive a formal diagnosis.

‘Data on who gets diagnosed and where is frustratingly incomplete, and this makes dementia a huge blind spot for healthcare decision-makers and politicians.’

A report published in early December by the Curia Dementia Commission claimed 36 per cent of dementia cases go undiagnosed.

The commission is led by former health minister Lord James O’Shaughnessy, who warned that the ‘unrelenting rise in undiagnosed cases demands a paradigm shift in our approach to dementia care’.

Ms Evans added: ‘Dementia is the biggest health crisis of our time, casting a dark shadow over the near million people affected by the condition in the UK.

‘Not only does it bring fear, heartbreak, and harm to the ones we love, but it’s also having a huge impact on our economy.’

Alzheimer’s Research UK said recent breakthroughs in potential treatment of the disease is ‘finally bringing hope’ that one day a cure for dementia can be found.

Ms Evans said that new treatments ‘are within sight’, but added: ‘It’s time to make sure these innovations reach people who can benefit.

‘Any new dementia drugs that are deemed safe and effective need to be available as soon as possible within the NHS, and how people are diagnosed needs to be overhauled. Otherwise, we’ll be staring at the same heart-rending statistics for years to come.’

Recent studies have explored the use of lab-grown small blood vessels as a potential cure for both vascular dementia and stroke, as well as a blood test to determine the biological age of certain organs to predict the progression of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

It is also hoped a blood test for Alzheimer’s could be available on the NHS within five years, with Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Alzheimer’s Society launching a £5million project to bring simple tests to the health service.

Six bizarre warning signs of Alzheimer’s

Giving out money

Giving out cash to strangers could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer’s.

That is according to research by USC and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, which linked financial altruism to the first stages of the disease.

The study tested the theory on 67 adults around the age of 70.

The participants were put in pairs with people they had never met, and were given $10 (£8) to distribute between themselves and the other.

Neurological tests were given to the participants to judge their cognitive state and their potential risk of developing Alzheimer’s.

The results, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, suggested those who were at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s were also more willing to hand out money to the person they had never met.

Dr Duke Han, a neuropsychology professor at USC who led the research, said: ‘Trouble handling money is thought to be one of the early signs of Alzheimer’s disease, and this finding supports that notion.’

Changes in humour and swearing more are all signs of Alzheimer’s and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) — a type of dementia that causes problems with behaviour and language. According to experts bad parking, and dressing scruffy are also signs of the memory-robbing disease. Graphic shows: Six signs of Alzheimer’s disease

Changes to humour

Starting to watch slapstick comedy classics like Airplane and Mr Bean could be another sign of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers at University College London found people who had the disease were more likely to enjoy watching slapstick, absurdist or satirical comedy compared to other people of the same age.

A questionnaire was given to friends and relatives of 48 people with Alzheimer’s and FTD.

They were asked about their loved one’s preferences for different types of comedy and whether their taste had shifted over the past 15 years.

Researchers asked if they were a fan of slapstick comedy such as Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean, satirical comedy such as South Park or absurdist comedy like The Mighty Boosh.

Family and friends were also asked if they had noticed any inappropriate humour in recent years.

According to the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2015, people with the disease start to prefer slapstick jokes nine years before typical dementia symptoms begin to show.

It also found people with FTD were more likely to find tragic events funny, or laugh at things others would not find funny like a badly parked car or barking dog.

These changes in humour in could be caused by the brain shrinking in the frontal lobe, researchers say.

Dressing scruffy

Making fashion disasters, struggling to piece together clothes that match and wearing things that are not weather-appropriate could be another sign of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers at the universities of Kent and York described how people suffering with dementia were less likely to be able to dress themselves when left to their own devices.

The study, published in Sociology of Health and Illness in 2018, focused on 32 people in three care homes and 15 regular home sin Kent.

Researchers interviewed 28 care homes staff, 29 family carers and relatives to find out how you should dress people suffering with dementia.

Melissa, a family carer who was quoted in the study, said: ‘I’ve never seen my dad scruffy. Never. Until that day I turned up in the home and he’s sitting there in screwed up clothes which really hurt me because I’m not used to that – not at all.’

Carers also said it was difficult to dress people with more advanced dementia because they need encouragement and assistance guiding their arms.

Scruffiness and changes what they wear can be caused by several Alzheimer’s symptoms, from muscles stiffness and jolty arm movements making it physically harder to dress to simply forgetting clothes belong to them.

Bad parking

The memory-robbing condition can make Alzheimer’s patient’s bad at driving.

The condition affects motor skills, memory and thought processes making their reaction times slow and bad at parking, leading patients to eventually give up the keys to their car.

Researchers at Washington University in St Louis studied the driving habits of 139 people over a year to see how Alzheimer’s changes the ay they drove.

Half of the participants were diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s while the other half were not.

The study, published in Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy in 2021, suggested those with the disease were more likely to drive slowly and made sudden changes in direction.

The team used the findings to craft a model that predicted if people had Alzheimer’s based on their skills behind the wheel.

The model correctly guessed whether someone had the disease in nine out of 10 cases.

Swearing

Having no filter and swearing in inappropriate situations could be another warning sign.

The filter people usually use to stop themselves using inappropriate language in front of children, for example, weakens with the disease, causing those with FTD to let more profanities slip.

People with FTD are more likely to use the word ‘f**k’ when prompted to name words beginning with ‘f’, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles found.

The study, published in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology in 2010, asked 70 patients to name as many words as they could think of beginning with letters ‘f’, ‘a’ and ‘s’ in a minute.

They also found that six of the 32 dementia patients said the swear word when asked to list words for ‘f’, and more said the word ‘s**t’ for ‘s’.

Having no filter

Just like swearing, as Alzheimer’s patients’ brains change, they start to have no filter.

How they act and what they say can degenerate in many cases.

Undressing in public, being rude and talking to strangers are all signs of the disease, according to experts.

The frontal prefrontal cortex in the frontal lobes of the brain is the part that controls are filter. But when you develop Alzheimer’s this part of the brain shrinks.

Alzheimer’s Society said: ‘These situations can be very confusing, distressing, shocking or frustrating for someone with dementia, as well as for those close to them.

‘The person with dementia may not understand why their behaviour is considered inappropriate. It’s very unlikely that they are being inappropriate on purpose.’

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