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Medical News Today
2 hours ago
- Medical News Today
Dementia may take 3.5 years to diagnose after symptoms begin, but why?
Dementia is a hard disease to diagnose for a number of reasons.A new study has found that people who have dementia are, on average, diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms first appear. This is even longer — an average of 4.1 years after symptoms first show — for people with early onset dementia. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 57 million people around the world in 2021 were living with dementia — an umbrella term for a group of conditions that impact a person's memory and ability to think and communicate, such as Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is a hard disease to diagnose. There is currently no single test to diagnose the condition, and symptoms of dementia are very similar to those of other diseases. Additionally, for some people, their dementia symptoms are very subtle in the early stage of the disease, making it hard for a doctor to make a complete diagnosis. Over the last few years, researchers have been focusing on finding new ways to help doctors detect and diagnose dementia as early as possible. 'Timely diagnosis of dementia is crucial for several reasons,' Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Brain Sciences at University College London, explained to Medical News Today. 'First and foremost, early detection empowers individuals and their families to plan ahead, and make informed decisions about their care.' 'From a healthcare perspective, timely diagnosis reduces the strain on healthcare systems by enabling proactive rather than reactive care,' she continued. 'As our global population ages, the prevalence of dementia is rising sharply. Timely diagnosis, therefore, is key to addressing this growing public health challenge.' Orgeta is the lead author of a new study recently published in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry that reports people who have dementia are, on average, diagnosed 3.5 years after symptoms first appear. This is even longer — an average of 4.1 years after symptoms first show — for people with early onset dementia. The time between symptoms and dementia diagnosisFor this study, researchers analyzed the results of 13 previously published studies, encompassing more than 30,000 participants. Scientists focused on the average time span between when symptoms were first noticed by patients or their family members, to their dementia diagnosis. 'We decided to examine the average interval between symptom onset and final diagnosis of dementia because this timeframe has significant implications for patient outcomes, families, and the overall healthcare system,' Orgeta said. 'Despite increasing awareness, many individuals still face delays of months or even years before receiving a formal diagnosis,' she said. 3.5 years for a dementia diagnosis once symptoms beginAt the study's conclusion, researchers found that dementia diagnosis occurs, on average, about 3.5 years after symptoms begin to show. This timespan average jumped to 4.1 years for participants with early onset dementia. 'The finding that it typically takes 3.5 years to receive a dementia diagnosis — and even longer, 4.1 years, for those with early-onset dementia — highlights a critical delay in the diagnostic journey, during which individuals and their families may be living with uncertainty, and without access to the support and planning resources they need.'— Vasiliki Orgeta, PhD'These findings underscore the urgent need to improve public awareness, enhance training for healthcare providers, and streamline referral pathways,' Orgeta said. Younger age, frontotemporal dementia linked to longer diagnosis timeOrgeta and her team also discovered that participants with a younger age at symptom onset and those diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia correlated with a longer diagnosis time. 'These delays mean that many younger individuals are left without the clarity, support, or medical care they need for years,' Orgeta said. 'Our findings emphasize the need for greater awareness and education among healthcare professionals to recognize the early signs of less common dementias, particularly in younger populations. Improving early detection in these groups is essential to ensure timely support, reduce misdiagnoses, and improve long-term outcomes.' 'We plan to work closely with people affected by dementia and their families, clinicians and policymakers to develop strategies that support earlier identification and more efficient diagnostic pathways — particularly for younger individuals and those with less common forms of dementia like frontotemporal dementia,' she added. What causes a delay in dementia diagnosis? MNT also spoke with Adel Aziz, MD, FAAN, cognitive and behavioral neurologist, assistant professor of neurology at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine, and memory specialist at JFK University Medical Center, about this study. 'I would like to stress that experienced clinicians rarely find the concept of delayed dementia diagnosis surprising,' Aziz commented. 'What this meta-analysis adds is a shared language — 'Time To Diagnose (TTD)' — and empirical weights for each contributing factor. By translating anecdotes into measurable variables, it empowers specialists to benchmark performance, tailor interventions, and advocate for policy change.' Aziz explained that delays in diagnosing dementia arise at multiple points: when patients and families postpone seeking help, when primary providers hesitate to refer, and when early cognitive symptoms are misattributed to aging or anxiety.'This multifaceted issue intertwines with social determinants like education, socioeconomic status, minority identity, sex, age of symptom onset, dementia subtype, and the strength of a patient's support system,' he help lower the time between first dementia symptoms and formal diagnosis, Aziz said it will require community awareness campaigns to demystify dementia signs across diverse populations, provider education programs to train frontline clinicians on early, atypical dementia presentations, policy and advocacy to advocate for insurance coverage of cognitive assessments, and new technologies such as a telehealth cognitive screening for remote areas. 'With these layers of action — spanning public education, clinical training, policy reform, and technological innovation — we can move toward a future where dementia is recognized and managed as early as possible,' he added.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
Official receiver may step in as council care provider NRS Healthcare nears collapse
A private equity-backed provider of care services to vulnerable patients across England is on the brink of insolvency, prompting Whitehall officials to draw up contingency plans for its collapse. Sky News has learnt that NRS Healthcare, also known as Nottingham Rehab, is close to falling into compulsory liquidation after efforts to find a buyer were unsuccessful. Sources said the Official Receiver was expected to step in owing to the importance of the services offered by NRS Healthcare, which provides living aids and equipment to elderly and vulnerable patients, many of whom have recently been discharged from hospital. The company supplies wheelchairs, telecare and other technology-enabled healthcare services through contracts with local authorities across the country. Whitehall sources said the government was working with the Insolvency Service to assess contingency plans for the continued provision of services. If NRS Healthcare could no longer supply equipment, local authorities would have a duty to intervene and ensure continuity of care such as disability aids. "We are monitoring the situation closely," a government insider said. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the professional services firm, had been trying to find a buyer or new investors for the business in recent weeks, according to healthcare industry executives. NRS Healthcare has been owned by Graphite Capital, a private equity firm, since 2019. Graphite Capital's other investments have included the Groucho Club, the Soho members' club. One healthcare industry source said the terms of NRS Healthcare's contracts with local authorities had resulted in its financial decline. NRS Healthcare describes itself as the biggest care provider of its kind in the UK, although the precise number of patients to which it provides services to was unclear on Wednesday. In accounts filed at Companies House dated March 31, 2024, Nottingham Rehab said its directors were "satisfied with the results for the period". It reported an operating loss of £5.6m for the relevant period, but said its directors were "confident there is significant scope to develop and grow the business". In response to an enquiry from Sky News, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We are closely monitoring this situation and are working with a range of partners who are supporting local authorities to minimise any potential disruption, find alternative suppliers if needed and ensure patients continue to receive high-quality care." A spokesman for NRS Healthcare refused to answer basic questions including how many people it employs, although it is expected that many employees would be retained in the event that the company falls into compulsory liquidation. Graphite Capital confirmed that it had taken ownership of the company in 2019 but refused to disclose the price it had paid.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
I'm one of many Palestinian doctors in Israel. We're being persecuted – but we won't abandon our oath
Medicine is a humanistic profession, grounded in ethical values of justice, beneficence and the commitment to do no harm. It is a vocation of healing, of saving lives and of easing physical and emotional suffering. Being a doctor requires inner strength – the ability to see another's pain, to feel it and to respond with empathy and compassion, alongside the knowledge and professionalism the role demands. I believe a physician also bears a critical responsibility in advocating for their patients' right to health and in upholding the principle of justice. In that sense, every doctor is, to me, a leader. I explored these ideas in a new Guardian documentary, The Oath. I tell my story as a Palestinian doctor living in Israel and working within its healthcare system. Made over the past year, the film portrays the struggles and challenges I have faced in that time. However, since I was first filmed in March 2024, the situation in Gaza, and the position we are in as doctors, has only worsened – day by day, hour by hour. As a Palestinian doctor living and working in Israel, in the midst of a longstanding conflict, I learned during my studies and work that injustice has been done to many populations living here. The occupation and coercion that Israel exercises over the Palestinian population in the occupied territories and the policy of discrimination against the Palestinian minority living within Israel cause serious harm to the right to health of these populations. Control over territories, expulsion, dispossession, violence, restriction of movement, establishment of settlements and apartheid cause great suffering to the population, prevent access to medical care and directly affect their health. Already as a medical student, I decided that I could not sit on the sidelines in the face of all that. I joined Physicians for Human Rights – Israel in order to fight for the health of the populations under Israeli control, together with many partners. When we began filming the documentary, five months had already passed since Israel's assault on Gaza began. At that point, thousands had been killed and widespread destruction had taken place. Still, I could not have dreamed that for the next year and a half we would continue to witness daily bombings, mass death – including thousands of children – millions displaced, starvation and the unprecedented decimation of Gaza's health system. Hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, universities and entire neighbourhoods have been wiped off the map. The scale of devastation is unlike anything I have seen elsewhere. This is not merely a humanitarian crisis, it is what many international legal scholars and human rights organisations have begun to describe as a genocide in progress. My personal story is inseparable from this struggle. Marwan, the brother of my sister-in-law, a paramedic, was killed in the line of duty on 7 October 2023. These past two weeks were even more tragic for his family: their tents in a camp in Gaza were bombed, killing 10 relatives, among them Abdullah, an eight-year-old boy full of life and dreams of becoming a doctor, murdered in his sleep. Little Marwan, seven years old, lay unconscious in a hospital for a week due to a severe head injury, but was denied proper treatment due to the severe shortage of medical staff and resources. Since that tragic day, more than 1,500 Palestinian medical personnel have been killed. Many have been detained, subjected to ongoing persecution and humiliation. Some have died by torture and neglect in Israeli detention facilities. All this takes place under deafening silence from the Israeli healthcare establishment and many of my fellow physicians, who too often choose silence over basic ethics and morality. Only very few voices were heard among some in the Israeli healthcare system against targeting their colleagues in Gazan hospitals. Amid all this, I try to speak with restraint, to choose my words carefully, out of fear and understanding that my voice might be seen as dangerous. Since 7 October, Palestinian staff in the Israeli healthcare system have faced persecution, slander and paralysis. Anti-Palestinian sentiment is surging, even among patients and colleagues. Slogans such as 'there are no innocents in Gaza' or 'burn Gaza to the ground' are neither rejected nor punished by the system. Any expression of sympathy for victims – women, children, innocent civilians – is seen as support for terror, and puts the speaker at risk of dismissal or disciplinary action. A fellow physician, a partner in our struggle, was recently fired for delivering a brief speech in which he criticised the crimes committed in Gaza. The silencing and persecution are only intensifying. Medicine, once assumed to be a neutral profession, has become politically and morally fraught. To treat an injured child in Gaza is no longer merely a medical duty – it is a profound moral declaration. The oath to provide equal care to all shatters against the brutal reality in which doctors and children are killed, patients are arrested, voices are suppressed and dreams – like Abdullah's – collapse. And still, I continue to fight. Because as long as we remain silent, our oath is hollowed out, and the right to health becomes a fantasy too far to reach. Yet, as long as I have a voice, I will use it: for my patients, for justice, for the oath we all swore. Lina Qasem Hassan is a Palestinian doctor working in the Israeli healthcare system and is chairwoman of Physicians for Human Rights - Israel. Photograph of Lina Qasem Hassan by Fadi Amun
