More cause for concern

Source:  Australian Ageing Agenda 20 November 2012

Over 70 per cent of Australians would actively seek a vaccination to prevent the onset of dementia if one were available, according to research from the Australian Medicines Industry .

Preliminary findings from a new report from the peak body for the pharmaceutical industry, Facing the Health of Australians, has shown that the threat of dementia generates more fear in the average Australian than does diabetes, obesity or depression.

The full report is due out early 2013 but so far, the statistics show that the number of people who worry about dementia is double that of the previous generations and that dementia is one of the nation’s most worrying health concerns.

Cancer is the condition that Australians would most like to see a cure for (47.9 per cent) but dementia comes in as the nation’s second priority (16.6 per cent), ahead of heart attacks, diabetes and depression.

Yet, when the 5,000 Australian adults aged 32-66 years were surveyed and asked to consider their concerns when thinking about the future health of their children, over a quarter cited obesity as their greatest worry, with dementia lagging well behind at just under three per cent.

Seventy per cent of survey respondents said they would undergo a genetic test to understand their future health risk but only half would agree to be tested if they knew there was a medicine available to treat that particular condition. more