Quick facts for the media

Alzheimer Scotland is Scotland’s foremost voluntary organisation working for people with dementia and their carers.

What is Dementia?

Dementia is the progressive loss of the powers of the brain.

Alzheimer’s disease is the main form of dementia. Other kinds of dementia are:

• Vascular dementias, the second most common form where the brain is damaged by repeated strokes
• Lewy body dementia, which accounts for 15-20% of dementias and involves microscopic changes called Lewy Bodies in the nerve cells of the brain
• Pick’s disease and other rare forms of dementia

It is not yet known what causes dementia and there is no cure

People in Scotland with dementia

• There are 63,000 people with dementia in Scotland
• 1,600 are under 65.
• This number will increase over time in line with the ageing population
• The estimated figure for people in Scotland with dementia in 2025 is 84,300

Who is affected by dementia?

Dementia is a condition that primarily affects the elderly, however it can also affect those of a younger age.

Prevalence Statistics in Scotland (statistics used for mid year 2003)

30-64 years - 1,625
65-74 years - 12,742
75-85 years - 25,006
85 + years - 22,197

Overall 66% of people with dementia are female

People with Down's syndrome are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, and the onset of the illness is likely to be earlier than in the general population.

There are some rare forms of dementia that are hereditary, caused by inheriting a faulty gene, only a few families affected by these.

Hereditary types of Alzheimer's disease are 'early onset', which means that they occur before the age of 65.