The 6 early symptoms of UK’s biggest killer – as deaths rise year on year
According to new study, dementia was the leading cause of death in the UK in 2023 for the thirteenth consecutive year.
Additionally, Alzheimer’s Research UK warned that unless the government takes action, the “crisis will only worsen” due to the aging population.
Disease claimed the lives of at least 75,393 people in 2023, accounting for 11.4% of all documented fatalities.
The charities research shows a consistent increase from 74,261 in 2022 and 69,178 in 2021.
More people die from dementia than from heart disease these days.
“This data reveals the tragic reality of dementia’s devastating impact across the UK,” stated Hilary Evans-Newton, the charity’s chief executive.
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“This crisis will only worsen as our population ages unless Government takes action to address it.”
In the UK, an estimated 944,000 people suffer with dementia.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, by 2040, the number may increase to 1.4 million.
Ms. Evans-Newton went on to say: “A quarter of hospital beds for patients over 65 are already accounted for by dementia, and the cost of dementia to the NHS has risen in the previous ten years, primarily because of frequently preventable emergency admissions.
“The magnitude of damage caused by dementia on people and wider society can’t be ignored by government.”
Since 2011, dementia has been the primary cause of mortality for women, and this trend is expected to continue in 2023, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
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Compared to 27,000 men, over 48,000 women passed away from the illness last year.
Among the four countries, the analysis also revealed that Northern Ireland had the highest dementia death rate (11.7%), followed by England (11.6%), Wales (10.6%), and Scotland (10.2%).
The Government’s next 10-year Health Plan, according to Ms. Evans-Newton, is a “crucial opportunity” to modernize NHS dementia services.
“The government’s 10-Year Health Plan offers a crucial opportunity to harness groundbreaking research developments and address the growing impact of dementia on society,” she stated.
We are learning more and more about ways to safeguard our brain health and lower our chance of acquiring dementia in the future, and new tests and therapies are arriving in the UK.
“The 10-Year Health Plan must be used as an opportunity to capitalise on the recent advances in research, futureproof NHS dementia services and ensure dementia doesn’t remain a death sentence for everyone it touches.”
Ways to lower your risk of dementia
You can take certain steps to lower your own risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
Although there is no one behavior that can prevent dementia, there is a wealth of information that suggests altering your lifestyle choices may have an impact on your risk.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, those who engage in healthy behaviors between the ages of 40 and 65 have the lowest risk of developing dementia.
Here are some simple adjustments you can make:
- Exercise regularly to boost your heart health and circulation and help maintain a healthy weight.
- Drink less alcohol – try to have no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, about one pint of beer or a small glass of wine each day. If you regularly drink much more than this, you are increasing your risk of damage to your brain and other organs, and so increasing your risk of dementia.
- Don’t smoke – it does a lot of harm to the circulation of blood around the body, particularly the blood vessels in the brain, as well as the heart and lungs.
- Engaging in social activities to help to build up your brain s ability to relieve stress and improve your mood – depression and social isolation have both been linked to dementia.
- Manage health conditions, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes, which can increase the risk of getting dementia.
- Protect your eyesight and hearing – vision loss increases a person s risk of developing dementia. The same goes for hearing loss, which can also be an early symptom of dementia.
- Wear a helmet – as traumatic brain injuries can start a process in the brain where the substances that cause Alzheimer s disease build up around the injured area.
Source: The Society for Alzheimer’s
“Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease that has a terrible impact on so many families, including my own,” said Stephen Kinnock, minister of care.
According to this research, dementia has a significant negative impact on people in the UK as well as their loved ones.
“This administration is dedicated to reviving the NHS and building a society where all individuals with dementia receive compassionate, high-quality care from the time of diagnosis until their death with our Plan for Change.
“We will put Britain at the forefront of transforming treatment for dementia, backing research into the disease and ensuring that new clinically and cost-effective treatments are rolled out in a safe and timely way.”
In the early stages of dementia, symptoms may initially be mild.
However, they intensify over time and start to affect a person’s day-to-day activities.
Your loved one may exhibit modest behavioral changes that alert you to their illness.
After taking great care of their appearance, your meticulously polite loved one can start using profanity or becoming careless with their attire.
Here are six early indicators of the illness to be aware of.
1. Giving out money
The elderly are particularly vulnerable to scams.
Giving out money, however, may indicate early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, the most prevalent type of dementia, according to study.
It involved 67 adults who were about 70 years old.
Every individual was matched with a participant they had never met before.
Ten dollars (eight) were given to them to divide however they saw fit.
Researchers found that people who were more likely to have Alzheimer’s contributed more money to the new acquaintance.
It implies that those with the illness are more susceptible to financial loss.
The study’s lead researcher, Dr. Duke Han, a professor of neuropsychology at USC, stated: This data confirms the idea that difficulty managing money is one of the early indicators of Alzheimer’s disease.
2. Changes to humour
“Impending dementia” may be the cause of a change in your sense of humor, according to research from University College London.
They found that slapstick humor is more appealing to those who have the illness than more complex types of comedy.
They interviewed 48 individuals with the illness’s friends and family members about their loved ones’ sense of humor.
They were questioned in the study if their relatives liked more satirical shows like South Park or Mr. Bean.
They were then questioned about whether their humor had changed in the past fifteen years.
The study found that approximately nine years prior to the onset of typical dementia symptoms, persons with Alzheimer’s disease began to choose slapstick humor.
3. Dressing scruffy
Alzheimer’s patients may have difficulty getting ready in the morning, as family members are aware.
Patients may choose clothing that is inappropriate for the weather or choose items that clash.
According to a 2018 study that was published in the Sociology of Health and Illness, this may also be a precursor to the future.
32 individuals from three care facilities and 15 ordinary houses in Kent were the subjects of their study.
To find out how their patients dress, researchers spoke with 28 care home employees and 29 family members who provide care.
They found that persons with Alzheimer’s disease may begin to dress differently.
4. Bad parking
Because dementia impairs motor abilities, a person’s driving may deteriorate as their illness worsens.
People become poor at parking because it slows down their reactions.
Half of the 139 individuals whose driving patterns were examined by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis had early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the study, people who have the illness are more prone to drive more slowly and make sudden direction changes.
The findings were so important that they developed a model to determine whether a person had Alzheimer’s based only on their driving.
Ninety percent of the individuals had accurate case predictions.
5. Swearing
Another indication that someone has Alzheimer’s disease is when they swear.
The condition weakens the brain filter that would normally prevent people from using profanity in inappropriate contexts.
This may result in embarrassing circumstances like cursing in front of kids.
When asked to name words that start with the letter “f,” 18% of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease used the word “f**k,” according to research from the University of California, Los Angeles.
6. Having no filter
Similar to swearing, a person’s capacity to control their speech gets foggy as they progress through Alzheimer’s.
This is because specialists have shown that the frontal prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain that governs our internal filter, shrinks with age.
This implies that individuals may say or do wildly improper things without even realizing they are wrong.
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According to the Alzheimer’s Society, these circumstances can be extremely perplexing, upsetting, startling, or annoying for both the person with dementia and their loved ones.
It’s possible that the individual suffering from dementia won’t comprehend why their actions are deemed improper. It is quite improbable that they are intentionally doing inappropriately.
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