Barchester News

Early dementia diagnosis 'vital'
05/09/2008
The importance of an early diagnosis has been stressed by one commentator.

The early diagnosis of dementia is "vital", it has been reported.

Patients are then able to make appropriate plans for the future and manage their symptoms more effectively, while also making the most of their time, according to David Rose writing in the Times.

Furthermore, he suggests that although it could be some time before dementia is deemed to be controllable, medicines to "hold it at bay" may be available within the next ten years.

According to Mr Rose, only one in three people with dementia receives a formal diagnosis, yet "the gradual, inexorable decline of memory and acuity will be all too visible to relatives and carers who see their loved ones slip away slowly in later life".

He adds that evidence points to an active mental and physical life as being the key method for preventing dementia.

The Alzheimer's Society earlier this week said that dementia is massively "under-recognised and under-funded" in the UK.

According to the charity, approximately 700,000 people in the UK currently live with dementia - with that figure expected to reach over one million within 20 years.

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