Dementia: How Much Do We Know?
More about the study
The study involved 2,316 adults within the UK. The findings show that, though dementia is widely known about, there is a deep misunderstanding of the realities of what it is. Despite more than half of us now knowing someone with dementia a fifth of us believe that it is an inevitable part of getting older, which simply isn’t true. In addition only half of us realise that dementia is a cause of death and only a third believe it is possible to reduce the risk of dementia.
It is plausible that enduring perceptions of dementia as an inevitable part of ageing or not a cause of death, combined with an overall lower public understanding of the physical impact of dementia, contributes to poorer recognition of physical contributors to dementia risk compared to factors like less mental activity, loneliness, depression and stress.
This is summed up in the report's Executive Summary
The six risk factors are:
- Heavy drinking
- Genetics
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Depression
- Diabetes
The protective factor against dementia is:
- Physical exercise
It is a sad truth that more people are affected by dementia than ever before and half of us now know someone with the condition, yet despite growing dementia awareness, we must work harder to improve understanding of the diseases that cause it.
Sources of information
Here are some useful websites where you can find out more about living with dementia:
