Dementia surge to cost $153B by 2038: report

The prevalence of dementia in Canada will more than double in 30 years with the costs increasing 10-fold, if no changes are made, according to a new report.

The Alzheimer Society of Canada commissioned the report, entitled Rising Tide: The Impact of Dementia on Canadian Society, which projects that the number of cases will more than double to 1.25 million by 2038 as society ages.

'You think, "Oh yeah, I can manage this, I can do all these things, I don't need any help." And while I was certainly getting help, I probably should have had a lot more and sooner.' Gerry Matier

Today, someone in Canada develops dementia every five minutes. The report's authors suggest that will change to one new case every two minutes in 30 years, meaning the total costs associated with the mind-robbing disease could reach $153 billion a year by 2038, adjusting for inflation, up from the current $15 billion a year.

The society suggests fourkey ways to slow the growthin cases of Alzheimer's and dementia:

• Promoting healthier lifestyles, such asgetting people over 65 to increase their physical activity levels.
• Investing in support and education for caregivers. About85 per cent ofpeople who look after individuals with Alzheimer's are women, and caregivers are aging, too.
• Adding "system navigators," or a care advocate, to guide families through the complex health-care system.
• Combiningrisk reduction strategiestodelaythe onset of dementia by two years, such as throughthe discovery of new treatments.

"We believe that if people that are already active were to increase that level of activity as much as 50 per cent then it would make more a real impact on thenumber of people and the amount of money that this disease costs," society spokesman David Harvey told CBC News.

"Being out on a day like today, walking briskly, is a good thing from the point of view of protecting the brain, and making sure that all of your vascular risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol are optimally treated," said Dr. Sandra Black, a neuroscientist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, commenting on the report.

"These areways that you can as an individual help yourself."

The society would like to see annual funding for research into the causes and treatments of dementia tripled to $72 million from the current $24 million.

National strategy urged

The report's authorsalso predict that the overall amount of unpaid care delivered by family members will more than triple by 2038, to 756 million hours from the current 231 million hours.

Gerry Matier of Vancouver learned how quickly life can change when his wife, Diane Jamieson, was diagnosed with a form of dementia that progressively destroyed her ability to communicate and to care for herself.

Just 47 when symptoms began in late 1998, the former registered nurse had developed frontal temporal dementia.

Matier, executive director of the Insurance Council of British Columbia, became his wife's primary caregiver, which he planned to continue. But in 2006, her condition deteriorated and he had to put his wife into long-term care.

"I think I made a mistake like most caregivers," he said. "You think, 'Oh yeah, I can manage this, I can do all these things, I don't need any help.' And while I was certainly getting help, I probably should have had a lot more and sooner."

Another caregiver,Shirley Sagle of Sudbury, Ont., islooking for more affordablesupport. Sagle said she spends a good part of her day worrying about her 79-year-old mother, whowas diagnosedwith dementia four years ago.

"We need more nursing and home care, we really do," said Sagle,adding she's afraid her mother will putup a fight if they try to move herout of her condo. "Because people do not want to leave their homes. We need more affordable home care for them."

The study was conducted by RiskAnalytica, a Toronto-based consultancy firm that specializes in risk management. The project was funded by the Canadian Institutesof Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada, Pfizer Canada and Rx&D.