To think that Dementia/Alzheimers is a woman's disease.

[Elendon]

Two thirds of those who die from the disease are women. This is an awful statistic. I'm shocked.

www.alzheimers.org.uk/statistics

It costs billions of pounds per year to the NHS and the Carer system. Note: my aunt has alzheimers. Why are women so adversely affected? Surely this has to be corrected as a matter of urgency!

[MommaGee]

Sorry not read while thread.
Dec not a "women's" disease. Lots of men get it too.

Howe we the "this needs to be sorted asap" - because more women die of it?? It needs research and intervention etc cos it's horrific regardless of who dies from it.

[MackerelOfFact]

I also think that as a society, we need to talk more about death. We need to figure out what we consider to be an acceptable death and what we consider to be an unacceptable death. We need to decide what we want our own deaths to look like. We are a death-denying society, no government is ever going to win an election by promising people a nice death, but these are conversations we need to have, IMO.

[Elendon]

Just to be clear, I'm not painting this as some sort of sexism agenda. I was just reversing gender.

It's plain that no one really cares about the stats. Ok.

It's plain that no one really cares about the billions of pounds wasted on the care of those who suffer from this disease. Throw more money at it is the response. Fair enough.

Those with Dementia/Alzheimers are going to die. I know of two women in their 40s who had/have this disease. One lived for 20 years plus the condition, in a mental institution (way back), the other still has a partner and continues to live. I was introduced to him on a night out, it was made clear she would never get better and he needed female company. I was appalled. He was attractive and we chatted but it would never happen as far as I'm concerned.

I've talked to female friends about this. And my bff said she would be happy for her husband to find solace in another woman if she was in this way. Her children, daughters, thought differently. I can see both sides of the argument.

[Elendon]

Furry I hate to say this but this was the situation with my aunt two years ago. It's not degenerated to the point that I am disgusted with health care regarding dementia/vascular/alzheimers. It's all about money. Every discussion is regarding the cost of this, that and the other.

[Elendon]

now not not.

[Shiningexample]

I'm interested in dementia statistics and the reasons behind the gender differences that we see with this disease/collection of diseases

my brain is vitally important to me and I want all the info I can get as to how to mitigate my own risks!

[Shiningexample]

I think it comes down to
eat a healthy diet
get lots of exercise
dont have general anesthesia

I've always had those covered so not much more I can do...the rest is down to chance I suppose!

[Shiningexample]

from this link www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=102

Women are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than men. This is the case even if we allow for the fact that women on average live longer. The reasons for this are still unclear. It has been suggested that Alzheimer's disease in women is linked to a lack of the hormone oestrogen after the menopause. However, controlled trials of hormone replacement therapy (HRT, which replaces female hormones) have not been shown to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's. The age at which HRT is started, however, may affect the outcome. HRT (prescribed mainly to help with symptoms of the menopause) is not recommended as a way for women to help reduce their risk of dementia.

For most dementias other than Alzheimer's disease, men and women have much the same risk. For vascular dementia, men are actually at slightly higher risk than women. This is because men are more prone to stroke and heart disease, which can cause vascular and mixed dementia.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

Dementia often causes incontinence in later stages, and in women particularly (because the two orifices are so close together) this is likely to cause repeated urinary tract infections, which can be very weakening and ultimately at least contribute to a death. I had an aunt with advanced dementia whose death was as least partly down to the umpteenth UTI.

It's fair to say that if she'd been whipped into hospital and put on a drip (she was refusing food and drink) she could probably have gone on a bit longer, but as the GP pointed out, it was only going to happen again, very likely quite soon, and given that hospital is generally very distressing for people with dementia anyway, it might be kinder to let Nature take its course.
We were consulted, though, and I can't say it was at all an easy decision, but given that she was already in late 80s with advanced dementia, and hadn't been enjoying life at all for quite a while, I'm sure it's what she'd have wanted for herself.

Other people in such circs are often repeatedly admitted to hospital, though.

Although in my aunt's case it wasn't dementia that directly caused her death, if she hadn't had it she would probably have been far less likely to become incontinent, and thus so prone to UTIs

[QuintessentialShadow]

I have a theory, and it is perhaps rather sexist and Non PC, but perhaps in keeping with the male / female role models of the elderly generation today.

BTW, both men and females in my family have the sliding scale between parkinson and levii body dementia - my mum the latter.

One thing is that women die later, and men are more prone to dying from other illnesses, like heart disease or stroke, but I think more women than men get diagnosed and here is why:

What did many men traditionally do after work? They relaxed. They got served dinner, they put their feet up, watched tv, saw their mates, perhaps cleaned the car or mow the lawn, eventually got to bed. Women did the housework and the caring. If an elderly man retired, and ended up with poor memory, snoozing in his chair in front of the tv, the wife would just put up and shut up and cater to his needs.

If the WIFE on the other hand, started making a mess of dinner, make a mess of housework, and shopping and putting shopping away, made a mess of caring for grandkids, her husband would most definitely notice and find it odd, and most likely not stand for it. He would push her to a doctor, in a larger degree than a wife with a man snoozing in a chair would.

But think about the gender roles with your grandparents and elderly parents and what they do at home after work, and what they do when they retire, which person would be most likely to mess up?

My dad could spend hours in his armchair watching tv, while my mum faffed about. When she first got her diagnozis it was because she started forgetting how to cook and how to bake. She was already retired, as was my dad. I think in most traditional households a housewifes duties stay the same after retirement while men start chilling. (my mum worked part time and retired age 67, got her diagnosis at 71)

[MissMargie]

Patients need round the clock care - that's say 24 x 10 pounds an hour x7 = 1680 pounds per week. That's 87,360 a year. The carers could, perhaps, care for two or three patients. So roughly 30,000 per patient.

I get fed up with people glibly demanding the NHS improve care - how much of the 87,000 a year are they going to contribute to their loved ones care??

[MatildaTheCat]

Women are also far more verbal than men so likely to be noticed that they are forgetting words and struggling. Agree with the comments above about men snoozing in their chairs quietly.

Someone up thread said women are typically diagnosed later which surprised me.

[Borneoisbeautiful]

I read a worrying few articles a couple of years ago or maybe last year about sleeping tablets and anti-histamines being a factor in developing the condition. Actually it included a whole host of medications but those two jumped out at me because they are two things that I use. It goes back to the poster who said about the brain 'washing itself' whilst we sleep - the sleeping tablets obviously change sleep patterns and apparently this can lead to a build up of proteins which are a factor in developing Alzheimers.

I did speak to the doctor about it and she said that it was only one mitigating factor in the process and not to worry unduly as you would have to have a lot of the other indicators to go on and develop full blown dementia.

It seemed to only refer to first generation anti-histamines. Did anyone else read this research? I can't remember which journal it was in.

[prettybird]

My mother died of a dementia (not Alzheimer's) brought on by a head injury. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy Fortunately, because of the rapid onset, it was only a few years from diagnosis to death.

My dad has said that if he feels his faculties are going, he's got his trip to Switzerland planned. He turns 80 this year and comes from a long-lived family - and I hope we can enjoy many more years of him (compos mentis! )

Mum's nursing home/dementia block (full of people 20+ years older than her) was about 2/3 to 1/3 Female to Male, which would tie in with the longer life spans of females.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

The trouble with 'right to die' and dementia is that a good many people with the disease do not, or cannot, accept that there is anything wrong with them, and the more it progresses beyond the early stages, the less likely they are to understand it.
My mother was a typical case. Because her short term memory quickly became almost non existent, she could never remember that she couldn't remember anything, or could no longer manage to do this or that. Even when she could no longer even make herself a cup of tea she still honestly thought there was nothing wrong with her.

She'd had a horror of dementia previously (her sister had had it) and had vowed that if she ever got it, she'd take an overdose. And a lot of people say the same.
However, by the time dementia is advanced enough for other people to notice, it's quite likely that the person will have forgotten what they intended to do, and even if they had hidden a stash of pills away, they would very likely have completely forgotten where they had hidden it, and very likely that they had such a stash at all.

My answer to all this is a Living Will to say that if I ever develop dementia, or any other disease where I am unable to,look after myself and to have mental capacity, I categorically do NOT want any medical interventions to keep me going when Nature might be trying to let me go.

The last thing I ever want is to be a worry and a burden to my children. Nor do I ever want to turn into a pitiful wreck, like my poor mother was during her last years - incontinent, no dignity, no clue about anything, unable to hold any sort of conversation, not enjoying anything, and not recognising any of her family any more.

[annandale]

I do think that Living Wills have to be quite specific. I would pick your line in the sand and say that after you have reached that line more than 80% of the time, you don't want antibiotics or IV fluids any more - people seem to be kept going almost indefinitely with rounds of antibiotics and IV fluids. The line in the sand needs to be one that's easy to define and see, not too quick to reach. For me, I would say that a big one for me would be not being able to take my own weight safely anymore and having to be hoisted for all transfers, PLUS having such poor cognition and/or behaviour that I cannot safely manage at home even with a full package of care. So if I had an accident aged 50 and was in a wheelchair, but mentally fine, I haven't reached the line; also if I were happily pottering about the nursing home and garden holding a pair of socks which I am always just about to put away, I also haven't reached the line. Now, I am sure a lot of people over the line still want to live, but I would be happy to say to my doctor, at that point, stop prescribing and let me die; I do recognise, however, that watching someone die of a chest infection or a urine infection is no breeze on the carers, and ultimately if they get me admitted to hospital, it's OK by me that they do what they have to do.

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

This is on the news now. They're saying 1 in 9 deaths is now from dementia, and it's diagnosed in more women than men (they are saying 41,000 new diagnoses' in women, compared to 20,000 in men).

Apparently changes to how deaths are recorded has meant that there are now more women being recorded as dying of dementia, because they are recording the disease, rather than a symptom of that such as pneumonia - but for men, they tend to die of another major condition such as heart failure, and that tends to be recorded over dementia. The line on which is the most destructive disease is difficult.

I don't know what the answer to this is. I suspect it is financial, in a sense, until we have a treatment that at least significantly slows the disease, it's all research and drugs and testing, and that takes time and money.

I am petrified of getting it, now. I've got no family history because I'm orphaned, so I've no idea how likely I am.

[prettybird]

Because of the type of dementia my mum had, she never lost her memories. She just lost the desire to access them

She was also aware that her brain was going - and hated what was happening.

She had also been a fit woman in her 60s when she had her accident (cycling in India), so her body was strong.

In the end, the one bit of control she did have was over eating. Near the end, we agreed we should stop trying to bully her into eating and just did mouth care.

On a serious note, just before my parents went to India on their holiday, they sorted out enduring Power of Attorney, so that I (or the other spouse) could do financial transactions on their behalf if required (they did a lot of travelling). It made things a lot easier when mum deteriorated - although that had been the last thing on their mind when they did it.

My dad has a very detailed living will in place. Dh and I really should do the same - as well as sorting out Power of Attorney in case anything happened to one or other of us.

[Elendon]

I agree Anchor once dementia/Alzheimers is called no more antibiotics/iv fluids. It's cruel to keep these people alive. Plus it means less antibiotic resistant in the general populace. Think for once of small babies who may have a chance of life against those coming to an end of their life. There is no argument in this scenario.

When your time is up, it's up.

[Elendon]

Anchor I don't think it's genetic. I do have other views on it which are controversial, that I really don't want to go into here. Please do not be petrified. Most old women die peacefully in their beds. Most of my female relatives did. Most old men die of pneumonia, it's not called the old man's friend for nothing.

[Elendon]

My dad, who really died, at 72, from prostate cancer, had on his death certificate pneumonia. He died a peaceful and dignified death after a lot of suffering. He was hale and hearty and travelling the world, up to two years before his prognosis and death.

[Twiterati]

My dad died of dementia last year. It's not just a woman's disease.

[PurpleDaisies]

I agree Anchor once dementia/Alzheimers is called no more antibiotics/iv fluids. It's cruel to keep these people alive. Plus it means less antibiotic resistant in the general populace. Think for once of small babies who may have a chance of life against those coming to an end of their life. There is no argument in this scenario.

When your time is up, it's up.

I don't agree with this. Someone in the early stages of dementia can have many more good days than bad, enjoy spending tond with their family and often even live fairly independently. Are you saying that if they come down with a treatable illness such as pneumonia they should be left to die because they have a dementia diagnosis?

[Elendon]

I don't agree with this. Someone in the early stages of dementia can have many more good days than bad, enjoy spending tond with their family and often even live fairly independently. Are you saying that if they come down with a treatable illness such as pneumonia they should be left to die because they have a dementia diagnosis?

But the discussion is not about early stages of dementia, because those suffering this fatal disease of which there is no cure, do not require antibiotics in the early stages.

Would you agree that this planet is facing a huge antibiotic crisis? Antibiotics should not be given to those who are going to die facing end life situations.

[PurpleDaisies]

But the discussion is not about early stages of dementia, because those suffering this fatal disease of which there is no cure, do not require antibiotics in the early stages.

You're saying someone in the early stages of dementia could get a chest infection? I'm sorry but you're wrong.