There are over 944,000 people in the UK who have dementia according to the National Health Service, although some put the figure around 982.000. The number is expected to increase to over 1 million by 2030, and rise to 1.4 million by 2040. Currently 1 in 11 people over 65 have dementia in the UK.
Approximately 3% of people aged 70-74 have dementia, a figure that rises with age. The number of individuals with dementia increases significantly for each age bracket beyond 70:
- Ages 75-79: the rate increases to an estimated 6%.
- Ages 80-84: the prevalence is estimated at 11.1%.
- Ages 85-89 the rate climbs further, reaching about 18.3%.
- Ages 90-94 the rate climbs even further to nearly 30%.
There is not one form of dementia. There are four common types of dementia:
- Alzheimers disease is the most common form and is characterized by the build-up of abnormal proteins in the brain.
- Vascular dementia is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, often due to a stroke or a series of strokes.
- Dementia with Lewy bodies is characterized by the presence of Lewy body proteins in the brain.
- Frontotemporal dementia is a group of disorders that primarily affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.
My father had vascular dementia and even although he was a distinguished theologian, he became, as it were, ‘brain-dead’. In the light of this my mother asked me to go and see his consultant and ask for all medication to be withdrawn, and much to my mother’s relief he died within three days.
Thankfully, here in Chelmsford and in Mid-Essex generally, there are support groups for dementia victims and their relatives. This year my Rotary club’s number one charity is Essex Dementia Care and hopefully we will raise at least £7,000 – and all being well, probably much more.
Over the years as a minister I have had a lot to do with people suffering from dementia. In my first church in Altrincham a close friend of mine died with dementia. He was one of the brightest men I have known. An Oxford man, he became the administrator of the Manchester Business School. However, in later life he became a dementia victim. In my second church in Chelmsford another close friend of mine and my wife is suffering from dementia. At one stage she was one of my deacons and headed up the church’s pastoral team. Now 96 years old, she was a very cultured widow of a paediatrician, but now is in the last stages of dementia. She knows that, in her words, she is “disintegrating” and longs to die to be reunited with her husband and with other friends who have passed into glory. She now has no memory of the recent present at all. However, when I was asked just before Christmas in 2024 by her two daughters to take a communion service in her room, as usual she kept on repeating herself and kept on saying silly things. However, to my amazement, when I began the service she knew what exactly was happening and I have no doubt that as she took the bread the wine she encountered Jesus. But as soon as the service was over, she was her normal silly self. In October 2025, by which stage she was living in a care home in Windsor, my wife and I went to celebrate her 96th birthday. It was a very sad experience, for instead of being her normal courteous self she was grumpy and dissatisfied with the food that was brought to her. Much as I have appreciated her past friendship, nothing would give me greater joy than to hear that she had died and was now in the presence of the Lord whom she had loved and served for so many years.
Yes, dementia is indeed a challenge.