Comments on Cameron's latest speech about dementia

As promised, some thoughts about the various points he made:

'The prime minister was speaking to an audience of 300 experts who have pledged to find a cure by 2025.'

Here again we find the all too common confusion.  Have the experts really pledged to find a cure for dementia (i.e. all forms of dementia) by 2015? This seems very unlikely since, as we have mentioned several times on the blog, dementia can be caused by a wide range of different diseases and conditions.

'He said there was a need to develop more drugs and get them to patients more quickly. For that to happen, international collaboration and more money for dementia research was needed, he said.'

It's impossible to argue, though one has to say that unless the 'new drugs' are a lot more effective than current ones they won't get us close to any 'cures'.

''He added: "Something like £50m a year is being spent on dementia research, rather than the £590m spent on cancer. It is important to see dementia as a disease and one that we need to better understand so that we can tackle it." '

Again, dementia is called a disease  -  you'd think someone would tell him, wouldn't you?  But there's no denying that much more money needs to be spent on research.  And there needs to be a broader approach so that it's possible for researchers to obtain funding for work on neglected approaches rather than chipping away at the same coal-face as every other researcher.

' "So much of this is about making sure hospitals and care homes treat people with dementia better and, absolutely crucially, that we build dementia-friendly communities where all of us try and understand better what it's like to live with dementia," he said.'

Amen to this.  But, although there is a long, long way to go, my experience is that almost wherever you go there's a growing number of people who have some understanding of dementia.

Cameron's latest speech about dementia

A previous post (which has by far the most page views on AWD) discussed the Prime Minister's useful acknowledgement that Alzheimer's is a disease:

http://adventureswithdementia.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/cameron-its-disease.html

Now, over a year later, he has addressed the subject again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27912473

I want to deal with this in more detail when I have the time so I'll just point out that he unhelpfully calls dementia a disease (which it isn't  -  see: http://adventureswithdementia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/alzheimers-or-dementia.html)

The comments underneath the article are the usual mixture of the insightful, the ill-informed and complete tosh.

Please consider signing this petition

I'm never sure myself whether it's really worth signing online petitions, and there are so many on this topic that they are probably in danger of competing and cancelling each other out. However.........

The demand is for free care for people who need it, for whatever reason.  Obviously I'm coming at it from the point of view of someone who cares for a person with dementia but there are many other conditions and diseases that lead to people reaching a point where, if someone doesn't look after them, they will die.

Currently in the UK, you have to pay for this care, unless your income/savings are below a certain point.  Care, provided either in a home or 'at home' is incredibly expensive and sometimes not of a very high standard.  It is generally provided by private companies, though there are a few charities who also run homes.  If you are below the income/savings threshold, the Local Authority usually pay a lower fee than the care hones charge 'self-funders'.  Indeed there are grounds for believing that the companies subsidise the Local Authority places via the higher self-funding costs.

There are plans, currently due to come in during 2016, for a different system which might help to ensure that people don't necessarily lose all their savings and sometimes their home in care fees. It is a rather complex scheme!

The petition calls for everyone to be treated equally.

As always, the question is where the money will come from to meet this demand.  We would all have different ideas about this, but I think most people know that the way wealth is currently distributed suggests that there are many better choices that could be made in terms of tax and spending.

If you want to read more about this particular petition, follow this link:

Care of the elderly without bias

Cameron: 'It's a disease!'

An extract from yesterday's Hansard: 

Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con):
Figures published yesterday show that over the past 20 years there has been a 137% increase in the number of deaths linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Does the Prime Minister agree that if we are to stop that awful condition from afflicting more people in the future, we must invest much more in preventing it and on research in particular? Will he outline to the House what the Government are doing to help support those with dementia and those who care for them?

The Prime Minister:
My hon. Friend raises a point of concern to everyone in this House and everyone in this country, because no one knows when a relative could be afflicted by the condition. Her point is absolutely right: this is a disease and we should be thinking about it as a disease, as we do when we try to crack cancer, or heart disease, or strokes. That is why the Government are increasing the amount of money going into medical research so that we can try to prevent dementia in more cases. But there are many other things we need to do to improve the care in care homes and in hospitals and to ensure that we have more dementia-friendly communities so that we all learn how to deal with people who have dementia and how to help them lead lives that are as productive as possible.

This is very interesting.  First, Cameron is stating publicly that 'it' is a disease and comparing it with cancer heart disease and stroke.  Millions agree (the clue is in the name: Altzheimer's Disease).  But it isn't treated like these other diseases either in the way that people with the disease are cared for (their treatment is not 'free at the point of use') or in terms of the amount spent on research (the modest increase in no way reflects the scale or impact of the disease).

It will be fascinating to see whether he stands by this statement, actions speaking louder than words.

I'm inclined to think that it's just the usual PR.  As a politician he makes a fine PR man. 

But at least now these words are on record and there's something to try and hold him, and others, to.

Follow this link for a more recent comment on Cameron's views on dementia:

http://adventureswithdementia.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/comments-on-camerons-latest-speech.html

e-petition about a scandalous situation

The petition here:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/44333

was recently started and is an attempt to get dementia considered as a disease (rather than something that just happens to  -  mostly  -  old people).  The importance of this is that, unlike other terminal diseases, it does not entitle the patient to free NHS care.

There is a currently a complex system via which certain cases can be considered for some NHS funding but people find that this is mainly an obstacle course that deters all but the most determined (and carers have one or two other things to concentrate on).  If you do get some funding you stand a good chance of having it taken away after a couple of months.

You may have heard of the 'Dilnot' proposal whereby, at some stage in the future, patients may only have to spend 'only' £35,000 or, more likely, £75,000 of their money on their own treatment!

Please consider signing the petition.  Remember no-one of whatever age can know when they or a loved one may be struck by one of the diseases that causes dementia.

If the petition attracts 100,000 signatures, the issue can then be considered for debate in parliament.