The government’s new strategy is like the proverbial curate’s egg — good in parts but bad in others, according to the authors of the best-selling book, Could it be dementia? Losing your mind doesn’t mean losing your soul.
Dementia is an umbrella term for a condition that affects the brain, leading eventually to death. There are over 100 causes of dementia, the largest being Alzheimer’s disease at over 50%, and vascular disease. Over 700,000 have been diagnosed in the UK and, according to a YouGov poll, the lives of 25 million people are impacted in one way or another.
‘The government strategy is good, in that it wants to address the stigma and ignorance that still surrounds dementia and in helping to get early diagnoses’, said Louise Morse, Communications Manager for Pilgrim Homes, ‘especially when you consider that thousands of people are living with the condition without ever having received a diagnosis.