How well our minds function in old age is a major determinant of our quality of life Cracked Hat Illustration
Editorial: “Dementia: A silver lining but no room for complacency”
MY PATERNAL grandfather died shortly before I was born. The man my father’s stories conjured up was physically and mentally tough: a first world war veteran who was boisterous with his drinking buddies and, at home, an old-fashioned head of the household.
But beside those tales sat his life’s sad, unelaborated footnote; that he ended his days demented and degraded.
When I ask directly, my dad recalls his father sitting silently for hours, endlessly nursing an empty tea cup, oblivious to all. But my parents prefer not to go into detail. My mum says: “People just didn’t talk about dementia 40 years ago.”
Read more: Defying dementia
As we hunt down cures for dementia, one of today’s most feared illnesses, there are ways to fend off symptoms for longer
Today, though, we talk about dementia a lot. With life expectancy continuing to rise and the baby-boomer population bulge standing on the cusp of old age, Western countries face what is sometimes called a looming tsunami of dementia. Such is the urgency that last month London hosted the first G8 summit on the subject, where the world’s eight richest countries agreed to coordinate their research efforts against the problem.
The epidemic will place huge strain on healthcare systems; in the UK, the annual cost of caring for someone with this condition is more than the average salary. And on a personal …
