Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Mid North Coast Sector and Capacity Development program manager Gary Thomas said the disease was still feared within the community and needed to be addressed through access to increased services. 

Mr Thomas said there needed to be a comprehensive response to the issue not just in Port Macquarie but nation wide. 

Alzheimer’s Australia commissioned NATSEM to estimate the prevalence and incidence of dementia in Australia over the next 40 years.

The data included the need for carers and the direct and indirect costs of the condition over the period 2016 to 2056.

The Port Macquarie-Hastings region was placed in third position for prevalence rates behind Myall Lakes at number one. 

In 2017 it is expected there will be 2,230 cases of dementia in the Port Macquarie-Hastings region but by 2056 there are expected to be 4,861.

Mr Thomas said anecdotally dementia has been a hidden disease and it was important to reduce social isolation to reduce the risk of the onset of dementia. 

“Once people are on their own they do start to socially isolate. If they start to have cognitive issues as well they isolate even further,” he said. 

“What reduces quality of life and speeds up the onset of dementia is social isolation and lack of stimulation for the body and brain.”

Port Macquarie resident Philippa Reiss’ mother was diagnosed with dementia in 2010. After Ms Reiss’ mother lost her husband, her carer, she became socially isolated.

Ms Reiss said within a week of moving her mother from Glen Innes to Port Macquarie “she had improved immensely”. 

She credits a good diet, social interaction and exercise for her mother’s improved wellbeing. Ms Reiss’ mother lived in the past but she remembered her family members until she died. 

In the last 15 to 20 years, Mr Thomas said, significant gains had been made in brain research. 

“We do need more research dollars to help combat this disease,” he said.

Mr Thomas said there are over 100 different types of dementia. He would like to see more funding dedicated to risk reduction education and community awareness about dementia. 

“If we can delay the onset of dementia by five years then we can change the outcome of the number of people diagnosed significantly,” Mr Thomas said. 

Mr Thomas said if people can maintain a healthy diet, stay socially engaged, exercise their brain and their body then the speed of onset will be reduced.