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Dementia 'attracts less attention'
While experts have called on the government to invest much more money into research and development of treatments for people suffering from dementia, it has been suggested that young people with mental health problems are given far greater priority than their elderly counterparts.
Dr Dave Anderson, chair of the Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said dementia is "mostly an elderly related condition that attracts less attention".
He added that incidences of discrimination in the NHS against older people with illnesses such as dementia have been "well-documented" in recent times and suggested this could be one reason why research funding for mental health illnesses affecting older people is so far behind other areas, such as cancer treatment.
The Alzheimer's Society recently came together with leading healthcare professionals to urge the government to commit to a national dementia research strategy and triple annual investment in dementia research within five years.
The organisation warned the UK faces a potential dementia time-bomb unless more is done to tackle the illness, as the population becomes increasingly aged.
07 March 2009
The government fails to focus sufficient attention on dementia and Alzheimer's disease because they are perceived to be old people's illnesses, it has been claimed.While experts have called on the government to invest much more money into research and development of treatments for people suffering from dementia, it has been suggested that young people with mental health problems are given far greater priority than their elderly counterparts.
Dr Dave Anderson, chair of the Faculty of Old Age Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said dementia is "mostly an elderly related condition that attracts less attention".
He added that incidences of discrimination in the NHS against older people with illnesses such as dementia have been "well-documented" in recent times and suggested this could be one reason why research funding for mental health illnesses affecting older people is so far behind other areas, such as cancer treatment.
The Alzheimer's Society recently came together with leading healthcare professionals to urge the government to commit to a national dementia research strategy and triple annual investment in dementia research within five years.
The organisation warned the UK faces a potential dementia time-bomb unless more is done to tackle the illness, as the population becomes increasingly aged.
© Adfero Ltd. This news story was brought to you by Boehringer Ingelheim.
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