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Privacy NoticeYou’ve walked into a room and can’t remember why. You’re frantically looking for your lost mobile… while talking to your friend on it. Maybe you’ve driven off with your purse sat on the car roof again. We all have to juggle demands, but are those moments of forgetfulness simply down to our hectic lives, or are they symptoms of a bigger health issue we need to address? The stark facts are that half of us will be affected by dementia, either by developing it ourselves, caring for a loved one, or both – and it devastates everyone it touches. Dementia isn’t a single disease but an overall term that covers a range of specific cognitive impairment conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease. Close to a million people in the UK have dementia and 70,800 of them are under 65. Like TV presenter Fiona Phillips, 62, who revealed her diagnosis earlier this month, they’re learning to cope with the ordeal of what lies ahead.
Two out of three dementia sufferers are women
(Image: Getty Images)
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With two out of three sufferers being female, dementia is the leading cause of death for UK women. After we reach 60, we’re more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than breast cancer over the rest of our lives. And as we regularly check for breast lumps in the shower, it makes sense that we should learn not to dismiss those moments of absent-mindedness and brain fog. Could they be early signs of dementia? In a busy world where we’re swamped with work and family demands, how do we know we’re not ignoring a very serious problem when we can’t remember where we left the car keys or called the dog by our husband’s name? Alzheimer’s Research UK tells us that when people are younger, any symptoms they experience are often attributed to stress, anxiety or depression. Dr Susan Mitchell, their Head of Policy, points out that younger women’s brain fog worries are more likely to be down to the menopause. “Generally, we find that it’s not one of the most common symptoms,” she says. “Fiona Phillips has talked about this, but typically, for women developing dementia at a younger age, they are more likely to have changes in their vision and spatial awareness, or language problems.
Dr Susan Mitchell, Head of Policy at Alzheimer’s Research UK, believes that symptoms in a younger person are usually due to usually stress, anxiety or depression
“Sometimes patients have told me, ‘Oh I thought I was having a midlife crisis,’ because of their erratic behaviour.” If you do question your own actions or feel like something’s changed, there’s an understandable temptation to block the problem out. But, says Dr Mitchell, “It’s better for you, your family and people who love you to understand what’s going on.” She recommends talking to your GP, saying, “If you’re a woman in your forties or fifties, brain fog is more likely to be menopausal, but obviously there are exceptions.” Although the reasons for more women getting Alzheimer’s disease are not scientifically clear, there are other factors that may contribute to the disparity between men and women who have the disease. The main one is age. As Alzheimer’s mostly affects older people, it stands to reason that women – who, on average live longer – are more at risk. “Women are often the glue that holds the family together,” says Dr Mitchell, adding that women may not always have the support around them available to their male counterparts.
It stands to reason that because women live longer than men, more women suffer
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
“We know that if a woman outlives her partner, she often hasn’t got anyone close looking out for and supporting her, so she may not recognise she has symptoms of dementia. She’d need an advocate at this point to help her come forward for diagnosis,” she says. “We also see women underrepresented in clinical trials for all types of dementia. They may not be included for a whole set of reasons, some of which are really legitimate around fertility, menopause and hormonal cycles. “I appreciate it’s really complicated. And perhaps men aren’t as likely to put their partner forwards for trials. Obviously there are many men who do a valiant job of being carers and I don’t want to do the men down who do step up. But I think there is a disparity in some of this, yes.” While new treatments are emerging for dementia, there are still no drugs available today in the UK to slow or stop the diseases that cause it. But there may be hope on the horizon. Dr Julie Williams has been searching for a cure for Alzheimer’s for the past 30 years. As centre director of the UK Dementia Research Institute in Cardiff, she works with over 100 scientists, looking at the immune system and how it contributes to Alzheimer’s disease. “I am optimistic about the future,” she tells us. “We’ve had an increase in funding for research in the last five years – not as much as we need, but it’s a significant step change in our capabilities.
Centre director at Alzheimer’s Research UK, Dr Julie Williams, feels ‘optimistic about the future’
“We understand that our immune system is playing a very significant role in the development of what we see as common Alzheimer’s disease and even most of the early onset Alzheimer’s.” She continues, “We could be five years away from effective drugs, from our new understanding of what is causing Alzheimer’s disease, and how we can treat it. Dr Mitchell also says she feels “genuinely excited” about a breakthrough on the way with new medicines, but worries about the infrastructure there to support these new treatments in the first place. “The thing that keeps me awake at night is we have the promise of these new drugs, but we have an NHS that is really struggling,” she says. “They will cost money and patients will need more expensive diagnosis rather than a simple memory test – such as scans and samples of their spinal fluid taken. We don’t have the staff trained to do it. “I want as many people as possible to get these drugs when they’re available. And I fear we won’t be ready to offer them because we won’t have developed the diagnostic pathway. “We’re so close to treatments, we’re so close to a step forward. It’s just amazing, but wouldn’t it be ironic and a lost opportunity if we put that investment in, but the people of the UK can’t benefit from it because the system’s not ready for them?”
A lack of funding, research and NHS struggles worries staff at Alzheimer’s Research UK
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In the meantime, the conversation around Alzheimer’s and dementia is very much a hot topic, thanks to Alzheimer’s Society ambassador and long-term campaigner Fiona Phillips’ honesty about her own situation and her willingness to take part in a clinical trial. “My heart goes out to Fiona and her family,” says Dr Mitchell. “But I think we’re really pleased that she’s been able to talk about it, and the fact she’s on a research trial, because it’s only with the trials and studies that we will actually make breakthroughs. “Fiona is on a study that’s looking at a particular drug that tries to remove one of the proteins in your brain. In the case of Alzheimer’s, it’s the development of a build-up of particular proteins that seem to damage your brain cells. So the idea is that by removing these proteins, you stop the damage taking place. “This is why you need to do these things early. If the damage has taken place, it doesn’t matter if you remove these proteins, because unfortunately, a brain cell won’t recover. So we must act at the right stage when these proteins are present, and that’s at the early stages of the disease. Fiona is an ideal candidate.” Dr Williams agrees that Fiona’s long-standing determination to get information out into the public domain can only be a good thing.
Fiona Phillips is taking part in a vital medical study to remove proteins from her brain in the hope of holding the effects of Alzheimer’s off for longer
(Image: Daily Mirror)
“I’ve met Fiona – she’s very supportive of our research. She visited our Cardiff lab about 15 years ago and she’s been extremely supportive of our research. “She’s already done a lot to promote understanding of the disease, so it’s a cruel thing that she’s now facing Alzheimer’s when she has done so much to help people to understand it.” But when we ask Dr Williams if the background knowledge Fiona has will be a good thing, going forward, her hesitant reply is a reminder of the cruelty of this terrible disease. “Probably not,” she says. “She’s extremely aware of what is in front of her. Would it be better to be ignorant in this case? Possibly, yes.”Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnHealthFiona Phillips
