Dementia is the biggest cause of death in the UK and is the umbrella term for a number of illnesses. 55 million people worldwideAround 7,000 people are diagnosed in England each month.
Global health spending is expected to nearly triple by 2050, reaching $2.8 trillion by 2030.
Here we look at the national fight against malignant diseases.
Zip Code Lottery for Diagnosis
Where you live affects your chances of being diagnosed with dementia: it is estimated that 65% of people over 65 years old in England will be diagnosed with dementia by June 2024, although in some parts of the country that figure is as low as 46%.
The government The goal is to diagnose 66.7% of patientsHowever, the latest figures show that 180 local authorities in England are below this figure – the last time the national target was met was in 2019.
Last year, a report by the cross-party Parliamentary Group on Dementia found that structural issues could be preventing patients from seeking or receiving a diagnosis, including access to GPs, cultural barriers, waiting times for memory assessments, a lack of post-diagnosis support and a shortage of scanners.
London, the youngest region of England, has by far the lowest number of dementia cases relative to its population, with just 0.6% of its residents confirmed to have the condition. The highest numbers of cases are in the North East, South East and South West, which have the oldest populations.
Alzheimer’s UK predicts there will be around 900,000 people with dementia in 2021, around half of whom are thought to be misdiagnosed or not detected at all. A total of 66,000 of those suspected to have dementia live in Scotland, 44,000 in Wales and 22,000 in Northern Ireland.
This is not just a disease that affects the elderly.
Although almost all those diagnosed are over 65 years old, as of mid-2024, one in 14 people with recognised dementia in England will have early-onset dementia, meaning they will be diagnosed before their 65th birthday.
Men are more likely to be diagnosed with early onset dementia than women: NHS figures show that in England, 13% more men under 65 are diagnosed with dementia than women, and almost twice as many men under 50 are diagnosed with the condition.
Among older people, women outnumber men with dementia, and by the age of 80, women are twice as likely to have dementia as men, possibly due to women’s longer life expectancies.NHS figures also show that white people have lower rates of dementia than other ethnic groups.
