DEMENTIA

CORONAVIRUS has dealt a cruel blow to dementia patients and those waiting for a diagnosis.

Those living with the disease rely on regular contact with loved ones to put them at ease but over the last year have often been separated by lockdown laws.

Dementia diagnosis rates have also fallen with around 43,000 people potentially having missed out on a diagnosis over the past year, denying them access to specialist care and treatments.

The rate in England has fallen from 67 per cent before the pandemic to just 61 per cent now.

Alzheimer’s charities also say GP dementia assessments fell by 13,000 a month during the pandemic, while referrals to memory clinics fell by 1,000 a month.

Meanwhile researchers have discovered an increase in the use of antipsychotic medication among those with memory loss. Increased use of the drugs, which can have serious side-effects, suggests more people are suffering distress.

One in four adults who have died from coronavirus had dementia.

But there has also been an increase in non-Covid related deaths among dementia patients.

Deaths in private homes from dementia and Alzheimer’s are 75 per cent higher in England than the five-year average.

Hilary Evans, chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: ‘People affected by dementia have been hit especially hard by Covid1 and the drop in the diagnosis and referral rates means the pandemic will continue to have knockon effects for years to come.