To find dementia statistics frightening

[Collins567]

Having done some reading yesterday , it was stated that approx 1 in 1000 under 65s will develop it. That's really quite a high number, pretty much one pupil from each high school roughly.
After 65, that number shoots up, I think it was 1 in 20, which is terrifying.
65 is really no age at all.
I am thinking about Fiona Phillips who has recently revealed her diagnosis, and I have known of a 56 year old lady with late-stage dementia.
I have worked in dementia care homes so know exactly what it is, I have seen a lot of things that wouldn't be very pleasant to describe.
It just seems like a bit of a lottery. My Grandma currently has it and my other grandma who is no longer with us was starting with it before she died at 84, she became vey paranoid.
As it's in the family, it makes me even more worried.
I don't smoke, don't drink, exercise and so on.
Does anyone else worry about this a lot? I know there are now treatments which are supposed to really slow the prognosis but still no cure.

I'm petrified about it
My Nan had dementia, my dads sister has it, my mum died with early onset, mums brother now has it
No history of anything else in the family - no cancer, heart issues but everyone seems to get dementia

@TimeIhadaNameChange its association which is not a robust way of predicting diseases. It’s not significant until it’s shown through a clinical trial.

Sorry to hear this. There is a lot you can do to improve risk factors. Genetic susceptibility doesn’t guarantee you’ll get it.

You can start preventive measures today.

@LMNT definitely
I try and do puzzles daily, eat fruit and veg, I take supplements (including high dose vitamin D) and exercise. Don't drink and I quit smoking

None of the people who have had it in my family ever exercised except my mums brother (but he is a boxer with a history of head injuries...)

It can't be as expensive as giving all your money and assets to the state for your care, assuming most people have a house at that age.

I'll be off to Switzerland too, so at least my children can inherit something.

Feeling guilty because I have hearing aids, have had them donkeys years (updated regularly) and can't stand to use them. I'm autistic and the noise makes me want to scream.

Because of my work I see a lot of it but it's principally in the over 85's an age which few reached until relatively recently because not to put too finer point on it, something got them first - we've got better at treating the "somethings"!!!

Also in my experience the severe symptoms are fairly late on, I have it on my family, it's not no concern but I keep it in check

If you don't want it, refuse all blood pressure or heart medication medicine in your late 50s/early 60s. You are then more likely to die quickly.

I'd rather go to Switzerland too if I have a diagnosis. That's the plan
Although it's probably easier said than done

In years gone by, most people died of other things before developing dementia. That's why the stats are higher now. Same with cancer - you used to have a 1 in 3 chance of getting cancer, now it is 1 in 2 because they can now cure so many other things.

I used to be really scared of dementia. But when my mum died of heart trouble (and went from bright and chatty and v alert to dead v quickly etc..) I realised then that actually dementia gives children a chance to gradually let go, to prepare for death, to loose their parent over time and in the end, maybe even be grateful for death.

For that reason I'm now no longer fearful of it because I know it would mean my death wasn't a shock for my children and they would loose me gradually. Obviously dementia in a loved one is hard to watch, but it's no longer a fear of mine.

How does that work? i mean if i had diagnoses of Dementia but it was early stage, i wouldn't want to die, i'd still have quite a bit of cognitive function.... however by the time it got bad, i wouldn't, i might not know what Dignitas is, scared of flying, refuse consent etc...

I'm not sure i'd want to be put down whilst in relatively good health based on the assumption it'll get worse and there will never be a cure.

@TotalllyTireddd My mum died over a period of time, i wish to God she'd gone in her sleep or a heart attack.

Yes a shock but once that eased, the knowledge she never suffered is a lot better than knowing she went through absolutely hell for many weeks.

My dad died earlier this year and had dementia. He was at the stage where we were seriously considering residential care before he was admitted to hospital with an unrelated matter and died a few weeks later. It is a hideous condition and completely changes the person, they are no longer the relative you remember. Dad went from being an independent, outspoken, confident person who was comfortable in all social situations to someone who was hugely anxious and nervous and very cross and frustrated.

I think the studies showing a link with HRT and hearing aids and whatever are more about enabling you to keep doing things you've always been interested in doing, keeping your body and brain active and stimulated. We saw a massive decline in Dad during the pandemic when being active was illegal, mostly. Walking around the same block every day and seeing nobody is not stimulating anyone's brain.

I wasn't aware of the underactive thyroid link, I have been on thyroxine for some years now and cant really function without it. But on the flip side I have never smoked or taken any illegal drugs, and my alcohol consumption is minimal.

Have you ever had to care for someone with dementia? You sound very naive.

I really believe in medical assisted dying. I want to say that in future if I can’t do x, y and z, then ‘put me down ’.

It's horrific for family members to put it bluntly. Losing a loved one is hard in any circumstances, but losing them before they've died is torture.

It's really scary. Despite having shocking diets none of my extended family have/have had so I'm keeping my fingers crossed (and trying to be relatively healthy diet and drink wise).

Same here. They live to their mid 90’s but spend the last few years away with the fairies, and not in a good way. I’d rather die early than go through what my grandmas suffered.

We’re living longer and dementia is going to be an ever growing problem until they find a cure for it.

I’d have sooner had my parent hit by a bus and die in the street than have dementia. And I know for a fact they’d have felt the same if they’d had any indication that’s what was coming their way. There are few conditions more horrific than dementia or Alzheimer’s, you die but your body carries on. You forget your friends and family, look for ones long gone that can’t come to comfort you. You think your loved ones are some enemies who’ve come to steal from you or harm you. You forget how to bathe yourself, to toilet yourself, you can become hyper sexualised or say things you never would before causing great amount of hurt and offence. Eventually you forget how to eat or swallow. The whole time you’re confused, angry, scared. Like a small child who’s perpetually looking for their lost mother. And all this takes years whilst your family just pray for the end to come, for the next horrible illness/infection you pick up to be the one that frees you from the hell your own body has imprisoned you in.

If a heart attack is a quick but shocking death, dementia is a long but shocking one. You don’t lose your parent over time. They can go fairly quickly but you have to live with the zombie left behind, a living corpse of who your parents used to be. There’s no closure in that.

A sudden death is terrible and shocking, but watching someone who lived life with dignity, wasting away in a dementia home weighing 5 stone and wearing nappies, is worse. The middle ground is a short illness, but that often comes with pain and fear. I’ve experienced all those with close family members and I’d say sudden death, while hideously shocking for family, is by far the kindest for the person dying. My grandad dropped dead on a golf course having just finished a good round in the sunshine… perfect.

I don't want to be rude, but you have no idea what it's like for your own Mum not to recognise you. To watch her become incredibly distressed when she realises that she knows you, but can't work out why. To watch her lose her ability to hold a conversation, to become doubly incontinent, to become scared of ordinary household items. And all the while know that she would have been horrified by what she'd become.

You seem to imagine some gentle decline. It's not like that for everyone, and in our case it was fucking awful.

I wish I'd never clicked on this thread. The post has really fucking upset me. That somehow I should have been thankful for the fact that she had dementia and that I should have valued her death. Christ, some people have no fucking idea. The suffering she went through and the grief I am still carrying now.

The 1 in 1000 under 65 is quite likely to be mostly people with down syndrome, as early onset dementia is really rare in the rest of the population. But up to 80% of people with down syndrome will develop dementia in their 40s and 50s.
I've worked with some individuals who were diagnosed in their 30s, dementia is a horrible thing especially at such a young age.

There are many modifiable risk factors (but not Downs) : which risk or protective factors are you working on?