http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22598863/

Dementia patients live about 4 1/2 years
Study could help caregivers plan for patients with Alzheimer's
Reuters
updated 8:27 a.m. CT, Fri., Jan. 11, 2008
LONDON - People with dementia survive an average 4 1/2 years after
diagnosis, researchers said on Friday in a study they hope might help
caregivers plan for patients with Alzheimer’s and other, similar illnesses.

Researchers know dementia raises the risk of dying early, but the study
is the first to estimate how long people are likely to survive with the
condition, said Carol Brayne, a researcher at the Institute of Public
Health at the University of Cambridge.

“This gives people a rough idea of how long they are looking at,” said
Brayne, who led the study published in the British Medical Journal.
“This can add more to the information that physicians and families have.”

An estimated 24 million people worldwide have the mental confusion
marked by memory loss and problems with orientation that signals
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

The researchers, who said the number of people with dementia was
expected to rise to 81 million globally by 2040, studied 13,000 people
aged 65 or older who were assessed for the condition at regular
intervals between 1991 to 2005.

During this time, 438 people developed dementia, of whom 81 percent
died. Age, gender and disability were the main factors determining how
long a person survived, the researchers said.

Women lived for 4.6 years compared to 4.1 years for men. There was
nearly seven years difference in survival between the youngest and
oldest, with people aged 65 to 69 living 10.7 years and those over 90
living 3.8 years, the researchers found.

“The type of care and the environment where a person is living is also
important,” Brayne said in a telephone interview.

The study also found that the most frail patients died on average three
years sooner than people who are more robust, even with age factored in.

The findings might help policy makers, families and health professionals
better plan and care for people with dementia to determine things such
as how long a person might be in an institution, the researchers said.

“Some of these results may seem self-evident but they answer questions
asked by those caring for and advising people with dementia,” the
researchers wrote.

“We hope the estimates will be valuable to patients, clinicians, carers,
service providers and policy makers.”