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New study quadrupling deaths from dementia over the next few decades
Dementia is a widespread disease in today's society. Researchers now found that over the next twenty years, the number of people dying of dementia could almost quadruple.
Researchers at the acclaimed King's College London found in their study that the number of people dying of dementia will massively increase in the future. In the next twenty years, the number of people dying of dementia could almost quadruple. The physicians published the results of their study in the medical journal "British Medical Journal" (BMJ).
Dementia affects many people around the world. Physicians now found out that the number of deaths due to dementia could quadruple by 2040. (Image: Ocskay Mark / fotolia.com) Palliative care for people with dementia needs to be strengthened
For their study, the experts analyzed the mortality statistics for England and Wales from 2006 through 2014. Scientists were able to assess using explicit assumptions about the change in disease prevention over time and official predictions about mortality What need for palliative care will exist in the future.
By 2040, nearly 630,000 people in England and Wales alone could die of dementia
By 2040, annual dementia-related deaths in England and Wales will increase dramatically. This could lead to the death of some 628,659 people as a result of dementia, rather than 501,424 deaths in 2014 as in 2014, according to the authors.
Palliative care needs may increase by about 25 percent per year in the future
If age and gender-specific percentages with palliative care needs remain the same as they were in 2014, the number of people with palliative care needs could rise by about 25 percent a year in the future, say the researchers.
Cancer and dementia are the main reasons for the growing need for palliative care
If the upward trend observed between 2006 and 2014 continues, it could lead to a 47% increase in palliative care in England and Wales by 2040, say the authors. Dementia (increasing from 59,199 to 219,409 deaths) and cancer (from 143,638 to 208,636 deaths) by 2040 will be the main reasons for the growing demand.
Needed growth in palliative care will increase massively over the next 25 years
"Our analysis also showed that palliative care will grow much more over the next 25 years than previously expected," the experts explain. The increase in deaths from chronic diseases, which are likely to require treatment by palliative care, is leading to a significant increase in demand as demographic changes grow.
Many other countries will develop similar problems
Many high-income countries will undergo similar population and disease changes. Therefore, these countries may well expect a comparable increase in the need for palliative care, the authors explain.
Doctors need to be prepared for the growth of dementia and cancer
The current models of palliative care must urgently adapt to these future changes. In particular, we need to prepare for the growth of dementia and cancer, researchers say. Only in this way can we achieve that dying people will be cared for with due care in the future, explain the physicians.
Very few people with dementia get palliative care
Dementia is the biggest killer of the 21st century, the researchers say. The disease is the leading incurable cause of death, which so far can neither be prevented nor stopped. Currently, there is little palliative care for people with dementia. Only about eight percent of people with dementia die at home, less than one percent of those with dementia dies in a hospice, say the doctors.
Results should be a wake up call for society
The predicted quadruplication of dementia deaths should be a wake-up call that our society provides more services for dementia-appropriate palliative care, according to the experts. (As)