GPs take an average of three years to diagnose the disease
in patients
Doctors are failing to detect dementia in hundreds of
thousands of patients, a major study has found.
It suggests a third of those affected by the illness do not
realise it because they have not been given a formal diagnosis.
The Cambridge-led research, the first of its kind, found
even those who were eventually diagnosed had to live with the disease for an
average of three years before it was finally detected by GPs.
Those who were eventually diagnosed had to
live with the disease for an average of three years before it was finally
detected by GPs.
The Cambridge-led research, the first of its kind, found
even those who were eventually diagnosed had to live with the disease for an
average of three years before it was finally detected by GPs
Many suffer from dementia for more than six years before it is
picked up – while others die without finding out.
The research will raise serious questions over the
Government’s dementia strategy. Ministers have pledged to make the UK a world
leader in tackling the condition.
A major study earlier this month said dementia was one of
the reasons that life expectancy had stalled for the first time in 100 years.
The Alzheimer’s Society says early diagnosis is vital. But
researchers behind today’s study believe some GPs think telling patients and
families will only cause anxiety, as there is no cure for dementia.
Another reason is that many sufferers live alone, meaning no
one notices if they become more forgetful, confused or start behaving
differently.
Others are worried about the stigma of dementia and fear
losing friends, their independence and their driving licence.
A major study earlier this month said dementia was one of
the reasons that life expectancy had stalled for the first time in 100 years
The research by Cambridge, East Anglia and Newcastle
universities, which is still ongoing, hopes to provide one of the most accurate
pictures of dementia diagnosis rates to date.
It involves 7,796 over-65s in England who were interviewed
between 2011 and 2013 for two to three hours. Results were then analysed to see
which patients had dementia.
Controversially, the researchers did not tell patients if
they tested positively. Instead, they waited to see how much time elapsed
before the disease was diagnosed by family doctors.
Earlier this year the researchers contacted the GPs of 458
patients they had identified as having dementia.
The nine risk factors
Nine risk factors including obesity, smoking and high blood
pressure have been blamed for dementia in one in three cases.
A report last week was the first time scientists have been
able to show how much of the disease is preventable. They warned the public
should not see dementia as ‘an inevitable part of ageing’ but take
responsibility for reducing their own risk.
In the journal The Lancet, senior experts recommended a major
crackdown on high blood pressure which could help prevent one in 50 dementia
cases. Ensuring universal education to age 15 would cut the number of dementia
cases by 8 per cent, the report added.
In middle age, treating hearing loss would have the biggest
impact, cutting cases by 9 per cent. Stopping smoking in over-65s would stop 5
per cent of cases and treating depression would prevent 4 per cent.
Even a 1 per cent reduction in dementia cases would mean
that 8,500 fewer Britons suffer from the disease.
They found more than a third – some 37 per cent – had yet to
be given a formal diagnosis by the GP.
There was not even any mention of symptoms in their notes.
Of the patients who had been diagnosed, there was an average delay of three
years between researchers identifying the illness and GPs picking it up.
The researchers calculated a fifth of dementia patients wait
six years or more for a diagnosis. Another fifth die before being told they
have the disease.
These early results were presented at the world’s largest
Alzheimer’s conference in Docklands, east London, last week.
The full research will be presented at the end of the year.
Dr George Savva, lead author from East Anglia University,
said: ‘Many of these people have been living with dementia for six years
without diagnosis.
‘Doctors thought there’s no point in diagnosing because
there’s nothing we can do.
‘We don’t have a lot of evidence as to whether diagnosis
helps and the broad consensus is that many people don’t really want to know.
But there are drugs that can certainly help some people for some time, although
not everybody and not much.’
Dr James Pickett, of the Alzheimer’s Society, which is
funding the study, said: ‘We know people who get a diagnosis can get access to
drugs, help and support, they can plan for their future and they can avoid
reaching a crisis point.’
East Anglia researcher Clare Aldus said diagnosis ‘helps
them understand what is going wrong – a diagnosis can bring some relief’.
Separate figures last week suggested approximately one
million Britons are living with dementia. This number is expected to double by
2051 due to the ageing population and obesity, which raises the risk.
Ministers have pledged to improve dementia care since Labour
issued a National Dementia Strategy in 2009 and former prime minister David
Cameron launched the Dementia Challenge in 2012.
GPs were urged to improve diagnosis rates and hospital
doctors had training to better detect the illness. In 2014, the NHS paid GPs an
extra £55 for every new dementia case they recorded. The scheme was scrapped
the next year.
A Department of Health spokesman said it is investing
£50million to make hospitals dementia-friendly and £150million to develop a
national Dementia Research Institute.
An NHS England spokesman said the number of people with a
formal diagnosis has ‘dramatically increased … with approximately 150,000 more
people able to access early support’.
It seems the Alzheimers Society spokesperson has the right idea, that early diagnosis offers access to drugs and future planning that may avoid sufferers reaching crisis point.
No comments:
Post a Comment