Painkiller overdose danger

after her grandmother was diagnosed. She said: “I have seen people rush past or tut at people with dementia who may take a little longer to navigate ticket barriers or checkouts.

“This kind of ignorance and mistreatment can leave a person living with the condition even more confused, anxious and fearful to even leave their homes.”

One in three people born this year is expected to develop dementia, which now affects 850,000 in the UK.

Earlier this month Dame Barbara Windsor’s husband Scott Mitchell revealed the 80-year-old Carry On and EastEnders legend had been battling Alzheimer’s for four years.

Carey said: “My immediate reaction was to think how brave Barbara and Scott were in speaking out. It’s so important as a society that we become more aware and more accepting.” GROWING numbers of pensioners are suffering from “medication-related harm” after being discharged from hospital, a study says.

One in three is vulnerable to problems using medicines such as antibiotics and painkillers and, in some cases, relapse leads to death. The distress and potential dangers cost the NHS in England an estimated £396million each year, of which over 90 per cent was attributable to readmissions.

The study was carried out at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Professor Chakravarthi Rajkumar said: “It’s vital that we improve awareness.”