Almost half a million Aussies living with dementia as health experts warn figure could double in next three decades

A new report estimated there are 411,000 Aussies living with dementia - with that number expected to double in the next three decades. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) released it latest report Dementia in Australia on Friday, which stated as the rates of dementia increased the number of dementia medications and hospitalisations would continue to rise. The report showed the condition was the leading cause of death in Australia after coronary heart disease, accounting for 9.3 per cent of deaths. It was also the leading cause of death for women and Australians aged over 65 years in 2022. The report found 688 thousand dementia medication prescriptions were dispensed to about 72,400 Australians aged over 30 in 2022-23. This increased 46 per cent from just over 472,000 scripts in 2012-13. AIHW spokesperson Melanie Dunford said dementia was a significant and growing health and aged care issue in Australia. Ms Dunford said dementia had a substantial impact on the health and quality of life of people with the condition, as well as their family and friends. “There is currently no cure for dementia, but there are strategies to manage symptoms that can assist in maintaining independence and quality of life,” she said. Ms Dunford said while the likelihood of developing dementia increased with age, it was not an inevitable or normal part of the ageing process. She said as Australia’s population aged there may be more people living with dementia, and a greater number of people who required health services. In 2021–22, more than 242,000 people lived in permanent residential aged care, 54 per cent of those residents in aged care lived with dementia. AIHW estimated almost $3.7 billion of health and aged care spending in 2020–21 was directly attributable to the diagnosis, treatment and care of people with dementia. University of Western Australia professor of geriatric medicine Leon Flicker said the ageing of Australia had occurred gradually, and significantly over the last 30 years, which meant Australians were now living longer. Professor Flicker said after the Second World War Australia experienced a migration and baby boom, and we were now catching up to other parts of world such as the UK and Europe, which had older populations some time ago. “The median age of somebody with dementia in Australia is 82-years old, so the biggest risk factor by a long way is growing old,” he said. “Because people are not dying of other things at younger ages there are going to be more people who are older and are at risk of dementia. “It is not a good thing to have dementia, but a lot of people are reaching this age, and that is not a bad thing either.” Professor Flicker said there was scientific uncertainty around what people could do to prevent developing dementia, and the risk factors of dementia were also risk factors for other conditions like heart disease and cancer. “We should be trying to prevent those things as much as possible, because that is a good thing anyway, but that means more people grow old if they do not die from heart disease or strokes, so more people will die from dementia. “It is a complicated issue and it is a good thing to try and prevent it by keeping physically and mentally active, not smoking and trying to avoid high blood pressure and diabetes. “All these things are good things. Professor Flicker said a national plan was needed on better support people with dementia and the services provided to them. He said the system needed to be improved so people who were hospitalised with dementia were better cared for. “We just need to make sure we reorganise our services so people with dementia are more appropriately treated and managed by our health services and health system.”