Dementia continues to insidiously stalk society, to ruinous effect – individually, socially and economically. Diagnoses, on the rise globally, are largely down to population growth and increased life expectancy. Girls, for instance, born in 2023, can expect to live on average to 90, it was revealed by the UK’s Office for National Statistics in February.
According to the World Health Organisation, 57 million people globally are living with some form of dementia, with 10m newly diagnosed each year. In 2019, the condition was estimated to cost the world’s economies $1.3tn. Here in the UK, there’s a current £42bn annual cost associated with the disease, and that expenditure is predicted to more than double by 2040.
In absence of a cure, much resource is placed on treatment, but there’s also plenty…
