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http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/14/dementia-hits-women-hardest-study
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UK
- Dementia Hits Women Hardest – Study
Research finds disease now leading cause of death in British
women; many are also carers before succumbing themselves
An MRI
scan of a human brain. Women over 60 are now twice as likely to get dementia as
breast cancer. Photograph: Alamy
Robin McKie, Science Editor – 14 February 2015
Women are bearing the brunt of the
dementia epidemic that is spreading through Britain. A study by Alzheimer’s
Research UK reveals that the condition has not only become the leading cause of
death among British women but that women are far more likely to end up as
carers of sufferers than men – suffering physical and emotional stress and job
losses in the process.
“Women are carrying the responsibility of care
for their loved ones, only later to be living with the condition,” states the
report, entitled Women and Dementia: A Marginalised Majority. “Women are dying
from dementia but not before it has taken a considerable toll on minds and
bodies. In the UK, dementia hits women the hardest.”
The study, to be published next month, calls for
the government to make a significant increase in its funding of dementia
research and an improved investment in care. It also reveals that:
■ More than 500,000 women are now
affected by dementia. About 350,000 men have the condition.
■ Women over 60 are now twice as
likely to get dementia as breast cancer.
■ Women are more than two-and-a-half
times more likely than men to be carers of people with dementia.
In addition, the report notes that many women
play a leading role in dementia research in the UK but, in common with other
branches of science, they are discouraged from staying on in academia. Thus the
country loses, every year, some of the best talent that it possesses for
tackling the illness.
“Dementia is a life-shattering condition and
represents a ‘triple whammy’ for women,” said Hilary Evans, director of
external affairs at Alzheimer’s Research UK. “More women are dying of dementia,
more women are having to bear the burden of care, while a disproportionate
number of women currently working in dementia research are having to leave
science.”
Dementia has become increasingly common, partly
because more people, particularly women, are living longer. Age is a major risk
factor for the condition, and so it is now more prevalent, especially among
women.
But there are other reasons why dementia has
overtaken heart disease and cancer as the most common cause of death in women
(though it remains in third place for men). For a start, there have been major
investments in heart disease and cancer research in recent years and these have
helped bring down death rates, said Matthew Norton, head of policy for
Alzheimer’s Research UK.
“Just look at the figures,” he said. “The total
UK spend – from charities and the government – on dementia in 2013 was £73.8m.
By contrast, for cancer, that figure was £503m. And we can now see the effect
this gulf in funding has on disease profiles in Britain.”
This point was also emphasised by Evans. “In
recent decades we’ve seen increased investment in areas like cancer have a real
impact, and we need to emulate that success for dementia. Only through research
can we find ways to treat and prevent dementia, and transform the lives of the
hundreds of thousands affected.”
The report also finds that between 60% and 70%
of carers – who support dementia patients unpaid – are female and many
frequently report finding the experience emotionally stressful.
In addition, the study reveals that women who
care for dementia sufferers also feel less supported than their male
counterparts. “Wives caring for their husbands with severe dementia reported
receiving less support from friends and family than husbands caring for their
wives in similar circumstances,” says the report.
In turn, these female carers were more likely to
be depressed, which is itself a risk factor for dementia. Of those women caring
for dementia patients, 20% said they had been forced to go from full- to
part-time work; 18% had to take leave of absence, while 19% said they had to
give up work altogether to look after a relative or partner.
The report concludes that the grim situation
regarding dementia and dementia care in Britain will get worse unless the
government acts. “The UK already has a larger proportion of people over 65 than
the EU average, and as the number of older people rises steeply, the need for
carers will continue to increase,” it warns.