Study Says 130,000 Less People Over 65 With Dementia

New research suggests that there are 130,000 less people with dementia in the critical over-65s age category than perviously thought.

A study led by Cambridge University's Institute of Public Health says that the proportion of people over 65 years old with dementia across the UK is actually about 670,000 down from a previous estimate of 800,000.

However, the total number of dementia sufferers has increased slightly over the past 20 years the percentage of over-65s with the condition has dropped from 8.3% to 6.5%.

The Institute's paper, which was published in The Lancet, compared data on 7,635 older people collected from 1989 to 1994 against a group of 7,796 volunteers studied between 2008 and 2011.

For further information please read the following news story on the Daily Telegraph website Dementia rates fall as public health improves.

According to Welsh official figures, there are currently just over 42,700 people living with dementia in Wales and much work has taken place nationally to identify the areas which need to be addressed in order to improve the lives of those with and affected by this condition.

This has led to the creation of the National Dementia Vision for Wales which provides a long-term vision to ensure our country can best meet the challenge of the increasing number of people living with dementia.

As an organisation we are now focussing on dementia and the mental health issues it raises across Wales with further information available in our Dementia section on this website.

If you have any questions about WaMH in PC's work with dementia in Wales please contact us via email at lhills@rcgp.org.uk or on 029 2050 4516.