An extensive overview of the disease of ageing - dementia by Professor Chris Whitty http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/dementia-at-risk-of-being-forgotten

The remarkable improvements in child health, cardiovascular disease and cancer survival over the last few decades have not been replicated in dementia. As populations age, inexorably the burden of dementia, mainly a disease of ageing, is steadily increasing. The scientific understanding of dementia has advanced, but if the current slow rate of improvement in prevention and treatment is maintained, the burden of dementia will increase substantially over the next few decades.

Advances in prevention and treatment of dementia in the elderly, including Alzheimer's, are painfully slow despite the scale of the problem. Is this a failure of science, of the will of our generation to tackle a problem restricted to the elderly, or do we need to accept that it will just happen and plan to minimise its inevitable substantial impact on individuals, families and society?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/dementia-at-risk-of-being-forgotten

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,900 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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