Developing Alzheimer’s disease is one of the biggest fears for many older people and their relatives. Dementia results in progressive loss of memory, intellectual reasoning and language skills. In the simplest terms, a person gradually loses everything that made them recognisable as an individual — their memory, their knowledge and their personality traits. This can be heartbreaking for close family and friends. They feel that the person they knew and loved is lost, without being dead.
Unfortunately Alzheimer’s disease is quite common. It affects 8–10% of people over the age of 65, and around 35% of people over the age of 85. While this makes it a common problem, it is important to realise that the majority of older people do not suffer with dementia, and this deterioration is not, and should not be, considered an inevitable part of getting older.
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