Jan 12 2011 by Rhiannon Cooke, Crewe Chronicle

Research shows 821,884 people in the UK live with dementia and it costs the UK economy £23bn per year, which is more than cancer (£12bn per year) and heart disease (£8bn per year) combined. but what support is out there for those living with the condition and their carers?

DEMENTIA can cause the loss of the ability to remember, think and reason.

It’s a progressive condition, which means the symptoms will gradually get worse.

Symptoms include loss of memory, mood changes and communication problems.

Although it mainly affects older people, it can affect younger people and there are over 16,000 people in the UK under the age of 65 who have dementia.

Across Cheshire East approximately 4,900 people over 65, and 150 under 65, are living with dementia, of this around 65% are women.

Cheshire East Council and the Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT have been working to implement the national Dementia Care Strategy.

One of the objectives is to improve dementia awareness and care in hospitals by developing specific ‘care pathways’ for individuals.

Dealing with the disease can be a terrifying prospect for both the person with dementia and the carer – but there is help at hand.

Cheshire East Council is working in partnership with the Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT, Age UK Cheshire and Opportunity Links to develop a national pilot project called DemenShare.

It enables people with dementia and their carers to come together online to discuss the ways in which dementia affects their lives.

Operating in a similar way to Facebook and Twitter, the pioneering website offers users the opportunity to share experiences and find out more about the support and services available.

DemenShare.com community resource manager, Diane Christopherson, of Age UK Cheshire, whose role is to signpost people to the help they need on the website, said: “This is an exciting project and a great way of embracing the future by using social media to help people who until now may have been feeling isolated and alone.

“This is a new project which is still in its relatively early stages but the discussions and conversations are picking up on the site.

“Hopefully we have made it a friendly place where people can brew up, sit down and log in to get support and share problems and find answers.

The project will be geographically focussed on Central and East Cheshire, but it is web-based which means it can spread across the UK.

Sadly, at present, most forms of dementia cannot be cured, although research is continuing into developing drugs, vaccines and treatments which can temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms.

Cheshire East has been working hard to implement the National Dementia Strategy since early 2009, and one of the key outcomes has been the £1m refurbishment of Lincoln House in Crewe which reopened in August.

It provides a range of respite and reablement services tailored to the needs of older people and carers.

The respite suite is equipped with assistive technology such as bed and movement sensors to detect when users leave their beds, plus ‘one-touch’ radios, clocks or mobile phones. These devices can also be provided for use at home to reduce the need for residential care and to support carers.

At present, experts are not sure what causes dementia. This means it is difficult to be sure what can be done to prevent it. however, the evidence seems to indicate that a healthy diet and lifestyle may help protect against dementia.

If you have any concerns about dementia it is very important to get a proper and early diagnosis, this will help rule out any illnesses that might have similar symptoms to dementia, including depression.

Having a diagnosis may mean it is possible to be prescribed drugs for Alzheimer’s disease and can also help you prepare and plan for the future.

More details on dementia awareness and care in hospitals will be available at cheshireeast.gov.uk in January.

For more information visit demenshare.com.