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NEWS > HEALTH > DEMENTIA LOSING FUNDING IN U.K., PATIENTS BARELY NOTICE
DEMENTIA LOSING FUNDING IN U.K., PATIENTS BARELY NOTICE
March 19 2010
London, U.K. – Outside our incredible accomplishments over the last 50,000 years or so, there are very few differences between human beings and our primate cousins. True, we have less hair and yes we have opposable thumbs but many of those
differences are a result of our uniqueness, not the cause of them. Everyone who has seen a dog open the door to the food cupboard or seen a nature documentary where a monkey cracks a coconut with a rock realizes that much of our cleverness is simply not that unique.
That is what has so puzzled scientists and allowed concepts such as religion to propagate. There is something intangible in the human animal that not only separated us from the other animals on the planet, but continues to widen the gap. Whether it’s classed as consciousness or a soul, the essential idea remains the same. There is some ‘spark’ that makes human beings, well 
human beings and not chimpanzees. The answers to those questions may be a long way off but pathways to a solution may reside in those who have begun to lose the essential nature of humanity. With dementia, a debilitating and heart-wrenching disease that destroys what a person truly is, scientists believe there may be a path towards what makes us so unique. For the families of those afflicted with the disease those hopes offer little solace, and the declining funds being allocated to research pours salt in the wound. Luckily, the afflicted could care less.
“Many of us know people who have had cancer or heart disease but have been successfully treated and survived, so there is a perception that something can be done, and that more research will allow even more to be done,” said
University of Oxford Professor Alastair Gray to the BBC. “In contrast there are no cures for dementia at present; there are not even many ways of delaying it or slowing it down, so there may well be a feeling of inevitability surrounding it. However the lack of effective treatments is surely an argument for devoting more effort to research, not less. At least these patients don’t suffer as much given the nature of their disease.”
Cancer receives 12 times the funding that dementia research receives, partially as a result of most cancer patients still being to go out and fundraise.
“For anyone who has endured this with a loved one the pain is almost unbearable. Seeing this person that you have spent you entire life with shrivel into nothing is devastating. They forget birthdays, names, and lose the thing that makes them who they are. It’s truly sad to watch,” said Scrape TV Health analyst Rebecca Phelps. “It’s a dilemma for health officials as well because there is no end game for these patients. They live on and on for the most part meaning they draw a lot of dollars from the economy. Curing the ailments could mean tremendous savings for everyone and offer peace for their loved ones.”
In the U.K., diseases such as cancer receive funding from the NHS while dementia has to rely on private donations which rarely make up the difference.
“I mean in many ways the only people it’s hurting are the taxpayers. Taking funding from people with dementia is kind of like taking their magazines or the snacks their families bring in. They never notice so in the end the afflicted aren’t really hurt all that badly,” continued Phelps. “The real advantage of dementia is that while it hurts the emotional well-being of families and in some cases, when there is prolonged illness in the pocket books as well, but people can get away with so much and it in many ways absolves them of their guilt. That makes it really one of the best diseases for the elderly and their families so it’s no wonder they get no funding.”
We attempted to talk to various dementia patients about the dilemma but most of them insisted on talking about the war.
Lauren Hebert, Health Correspondent
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