Dementia ‘to hit 1m elderly in a generation’ (Daily Mail, 28 May 2008, Page 4)

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Dementia ‘to hit 1m elderly in a generation’

Daily Mail
28 May 2008

THE number of elderly suffering from dementia will rise to more than a million over the next two decades, a study has revealed. It claims the cost of treating patients with mental health conditions including Alzheimer’s could soar to nearly �50billion a year within a generation.

And it warned the increase – which would see every family in the UKaffected – will pose huge practical and financial challenges to analready beleaguered Health Service.

The report, by the King’s Fund think-tank and published yesterday,estimates that the number of elderly suffering from dementia – whichincludes several brain and body-wasting conditions – will rise 61 percent by 2026, from 582,827 to 937,636.

However, that is dwarfed by the 108 per cent rise in the predicted total care bill, from �22.5 billion to nearly �47billion.

Niall Dickson, head of the King’s Fund, said: ‘The fact we are living longer is a cause for celebration.

‘But it will

mean

that

the health and social care systems will have to cope with a dramaticincrease in the number of people suffering from dementia.

‘Unless there is a major breakthrough indrugs to arrest the course of this illness, then there will be a greatneed for extra care and support, some of it quite intense.

‘It is also clear there is still a high level of unmet need and that will need to be addressed.’

Andrew Ketteringham, of the Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘The projected growth in people with dementia is huge.

‘It will touch the lives of every one of us because every family in the country will have someone with dementia.

‘People think that dementia is about losing your memory but it takes your whole life away.

‘It progressively destroys your whole life. People end up not being able to walk, talk or eat.’

Last week, it was revealed that Gordon Brown is looking at ways toraise extra money to pay for the increasing cost of elderly care. ...read more...

Related:
Risks found for anti-psychotic drugs, study says
Study links dementia treatments to death
Study links dementia treatments to death
Study links dementia treatments to death
Study links dementia treatments to death

Tech Tags: Daily Mail newspaper News

Why More Often Diagnosing Diabetes Mellitus ...HOW ?

"Every Day And In Every Way I Am Getting Better And Better"...
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www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18178393 = '... It is not currently clear why insulin auto-immunity is so prominent and frequent ...' = vaccination of beta-cells ?

HYPOglycemia risk c/o SUB6.5 HbA1c 'diagnostic' and/or Auto-immune stimulated vaccination of beta-cells & collateral vaccination of alpha-cells [& collateral consequential HYPOglycemia risk] c/o SUB7.35 pH non-human GM insulin ?Love-Diabetes.cOM? ...


J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 May 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Related Articles, Links

A New Look at Screening and Diagnosing Diabetes Mellitus.

Saudek CD, Herman WH, Sacks DB, Bergenstal RM, Edelman D, Davidson MB.

Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Departments of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI; Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; International Diabetes Center, Minneapolis, MN; Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Duke University, Durham, NC; Department of Internal Medicine, Charles R. Drew University, Los Angeles, CA.

Objective: Diabetes is under-diagnosed.

About one-third of people with diabetes do not know they have it, and the average lag between onset and diagnosis is 7 years.

This report reconsiders the criteria for diagnosing diabetes, and recommends screening criteria, in order to make case-finding easier for clinicians and patients.

Participants: One of us (RMB) invited experts in the area of diagnosis, monitoring and management of diabetes to form a panel to review the literature and develop consensus regarding the screening and diagnosis of diabetes with particular reference to the use of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c).

Participants met in open session and by email thereafter.

Metrika, Inc. sponsored the meeting.

Evidence: Literature search was performed using standard search engines.

Consensus Process: The panel heard each member's discussion of the issues, reviewing evidence prior to drafting conclusions. Principal conclusions were agreed upon, then specific cut-points were discussed in an iterative consensus process.


Conclusions: The main factors in support of using HbA1c as a screening and diagnostic test include:

a) HbA1c does not require patients to be fasting;

b) HbA1c reflects longer-term glycemia than does plasma glucose;

c) HbA1c laboratory methods are now well standardized and reliable;

d) errors caused by non-glycemic factors affecting HbA1c such as hemoglobinopathies are infrequent and can be minimized by confirming the diagnosis of diabetes with a plasma glucose (PG)-specific test.


Specific recommendations:

1) Screening standards should be established that prompt further testing and closer follow-up, including fasting PG >/=100 mg/dl, random PG >/=130 mg/dl or HbA1c > 6.0%;

2) HbA1c >/= 6.5 - 6.9%, confirmed by a PG-specific test (FPG or OGTT), should establish the diagnosis of diabetes;

3) HbA1c >/= 7%, confirmed by another HbA1c or a PG-specific test (FPG or OGTT) should establish the diagnosis of diabetes.


The recommendations are offered for consideration of the clinical community and interested associations and societies.