New Campaign Launched: Are You Worried About Your Memory? UK

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Article Date: 30 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Health Minister Ivan Lewis helped launch Alzheimer's Society's new public information campaign to raise awareness of dementia, its symptoms and the importance of getting an early diagnosis.

Called Worried About Your Memory?, the campaign will prompt and help people to consider if their forgetfulness, or that of a friend or relative, is due to just poor memory or the beginning of a medical problem and encourage them to seek medical advice.

Currently 700,000 people in the UK live with dementia and by 2025 over a million people will have the condition. One in three people over the age of 65 will die with it.

However, up to two thirds of people with dementia never receive a diagnosis because they either don't recognise the symptoms or report them to their GP. And for those who do, it takes an average of nearly three years for a diagnosis from first noticing symptoms, denying people with dementia early and appropriate care and support.

Neil Hunt, Chief Executive of Alzheimer's Society, says:

Dementia is one of the greatest health challenges confronting our society as we face an ageing population. Yet there is an acute lack of awareness and understanding of dementia amongst the public, including those who are affected by it, as well as those in health and community services.

By encouraging people who are worried about their memory problems to seek medical advice sooner than they might have done, we hope more people with dementia can get important practical, emotional and medical care early on, giving them a greater chance to live life as well and as fully as possible.

The Department of Health has provided £500,000 to fund the Worried About Your Memory? Campaign, under their National Dementia Strategy for England, to make available advice and information leaflets, booklets and posters at every GP practice in England.

Health Minister Ivan Lewis, comments:

Dementia is now one of the most significant health challenges facing our society. That is why we are determined to bring dementia out of the shadows and later this year we'll launch the first ever national strategy to improve the quality of life for people with dementia and their families. This £500k partnership project with the Alzheimer's Society focuses on the crucial issue for both families and professionals of identifying symptoms early in order to trigger prompt and appropriate health and social care support. Early intervention is crucial in mitigating the effect of this most heart-wrenching of conditions.

Every GP in England will also be given a diagnostic tool in the form of a CD Rom to help inform and support their diagnosis decisions and to help support patients and their families following a positive diagnosis. According to a recent study by the National Audit Office, only 30 per cent of GP's feel that they have enough basic information and training to diagnose and manage dementia.

Although memory problems are common, and factors such as age, tiredness, stress, depression and some physical illnesses can affect it, Alzheimer's Society is encouraging people to seek advice and help if the following occur:

- It's a struggle to remember recent events, although it's easy to recall things that happened in the past
- It's hard to follow conversations or programmes on TV
- Regularly forgetting the names of friends or everyday objects
- Inability to recall things heard, seen or read
- Difficulty in making decisions
- Repeat themselves in conversation or lose the thread of what they are saying
- Have problems thinking and reasoning
- Feel anxious and depressed or angry about their forgetfulness
- Find that other people start to comment on their forgetfulness.

Anyone concerned about their memory, or that of a friend of relative, should speak to their GP or contact Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Helpline - 0845 300 0336 (8.30am-6.30pm, Monday to Friday) which is staffed by trained advisers.

Alzheimer's Society