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NEWS > HEALTH > RESEARCHERS FEAR INCREASE IN OLD AGE DEMENTIA AS POPULATION AGES
RESEARCHERS FEAR INCREASE IN OLD AGE DEMENTIA AS POPULATION AGES
September 24 2009
London, UK – There are diseases as devastating as dementia and Alzheimer’s. The erosion of the individual, the essential person that creates an individual, can destroy families and ravage generations. Though rarely fatal unto themselves such diseases kill
the individual still inhabiting a living body leaving them a burden to their families and the medical care system. For many, the loss of the individual can cause more fear than even the devastating effects of heart disease and cancer, something that according to researchers will likely only increase in the years to come.
According to a team of researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London the number of cases of dementia and Alzheimer’s is on the increase and the numbers are expected to rise dramatically in the coming years, particularly as individuals begin to age. The researchers believe that the numbers might actually be higher but diagnosis in the developing world is limited at best due in part to limited healthcare and elderly doctors who often suffer the ailment themselves. As yet the team does not have an answer as to how t curb the growth of the disease and warn that anyone who grows old may be at risk.
“In all parts of the world, carers – who are most commonly female and the spouses or children of the persons with dementia – often experience high levels of strain. Studies reviewed in the new report suggest that half 
to three-quarters of carers have significant psychological illness, while up to a third have clinical depression,” said lead researcher Professor Martin Prince. “Unfortunately these numbers will grow dramatically in the next 20-30 years as the population in western countries gets older and older. Until we are able to either find the root cause of such mental degradation or the root cause of aging the risk remains extremely high and that will become a major burden on our medical care system.”
The team also suggested putting younger people in charge of things like medical care and government oversight to increase the ability of such systems to care for the mentally infirmed.
“The most concerning thing about this study is the potential growth in low and middle income countries. Those places are in an odd spot because they are just starting to live longer but they don’t have the infrastructure in place to take care of the types of diseases that affect the elderly which could result in economic and social disaster for those nations,” said 
Scrape TV Health analyst Rebecca Phelps. “It’s very unlikely that those nations will be able to handle those cases and the likelihood of them implementing some sort of age limitation is very unlikely. That has existed in fiction but rarely made it into the real world and given the current state of affairs it’s unlikely that age limits for people will ever be acceptable no matter how it might benefit society in the long run.”
It’s estimated that by 2050, 115 million people will be suffering from some sort of dementia which would translate into billions of dollars in savings if they were excised from society before becoming ill.
“The cost savings would be enormous and that would allow dollars to be moved over towards diseases that affect the young. While we all have a great deal of affection for the elderly and they do serve a purpose from an emotional standpoint there are limits to what they add to society at large and that is where this issue needs to be debated,” continued Phelps. “As it stands right now there is no magic cure for these kinds of diseases and so we need to deal with them in the best and most responsible way we currently have. Right now the best answer we have to dementia is ritual suicide and because that is so frowned upon we will likely be dealing with these cases for a long time to come.”
Researchers did note that many of the afflicted will have trouble remembering whether or not they are still alive making it much easier to euthanize should that come into vogue.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
NEWS > HEALTH > RESEARCHERS FEAR INCREASE IN OLD AGE DEMENTIA AS POPULATION AGES
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