Young people diagnosed with dementia are up to seven times more likely to commit suicide, according to studies.
According to a review of over 600,000 medical records, around one in fifty people diagnosed with the condition commit suicide.
In the months following a diagnosis, the danger was particularly significant for those under 65, according to the findings of scientists.
In addition to normal neuropsychiatric side effects such as depression and sleep impairment, they attributed patients’ learning they have an incurable disease to psychological stress.
They emphasized that memory clinics must do more to help patients cope with the repercussions or risk additional needless deaths.
There are an estimated 850,000 dementia sufferers in the United Kingdom, including 42,000 under the age of 65. Nonetheless, just two-thirds have been formally diagnosed.
Approximately 7 million Americans suffer from dementia, according to data. Five percent of these patients are diagnosed before age 65.
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London and Nottingham University sought to determine whether dementia, a leading cause of death, was associated with suicide risk.
Between 2001 and 2019, they examined the medical data of 594,000 people in England and discovered that 4,940 were diagnosed with dementia.
In the three months following a dementia diagnosis, those under the age of 65 or with a history of psychiatric illness were nearly three times more likely to commit suicide than those without dementia.
In the three months following diagnosis, those under 65 were seven times more likely to commit suicide than those without dementia, indicating that early-onset dementia is particularly traumatic for patients.
According to the data published in JAMA Neurology, the risk remained more than twice as high for the following 12 months.
They believe that early recognition and a fast accurate diagnosis, along with specialized assistance, are necessary to lessen the suffering caused by a young onset diagnosis.
Dr. Danah Alothman of the University of Nottingham, who led the study, stated, “These findings suggest that memory clinics should target suicide risk assessment to patients with young-onset dementia, patients in the first few months after a dementia diagnosis, and patients with known psychiatric issues.”
Dr. Charles Marshall, the honorary consultant neurologist at the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary London, stated, ‘Improving access to a dementia diagnosis is a key healthcare objective.
“However, a dementia diagnosis may be distressing, and our research demonstrates that we must also ensure that agencies have the resources necessary to provide adequate care following a diagnosis.”
