How Common Is Dementia?
In our society of longer lifetime, the probability of suffering from dementia increases with advancing age. Dementia predominantly occurs in the second half of our life, often after the age of 65 – some experts think that this is the ‘price society has to pay’ for our higher life expectancy, and therefore the term ‘dementia’ activates similar fears and repression mechanisms as ‘cancer’ or ‘AIDS’. The frequency of dementia increases with rising age from less than 2% for the 65-69-year-olds, to 5% for the 75-79 year-olds, and to more than 20% for the 85-89 year-olds. Every third person over 90 years of age suffers from moderate or severe dementia (Bickel, Psycho 1996, 4-8). About half of those affected by dementia suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. About 5% of people above 65 years of age, about 20% of those over 80 years and about 30% of those over 90 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The relatives share their fate with many people who are equally affected.
