15 things most people get wrong about Alzheimer's and dementia

Oct 12, 2018

Two women, patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, dance inside the Alzheimer foundation in Mexico City April 19, 2012. Alzheimer's is a progressive, degenerative disease that robs people of memory, reasoning and the ability to communicate. About 24 million people worldwide have the disease according to the World Health Organization. In Mexico, 600,000 Mexicans out of 9 million adults over the age 60 suffer from Alzheimer's, according to the Institute of Geriatrics (INGER). Picture taken April 19, 2012. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Two women, patients with Alzheimer's and dementia, dance inside the Alzheimer foundation in Mexico City Image: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido (MEXICO - Tags: HEALTH SOCIETY) - GM1E84L15HS01

Lindsay Dodgson

Reporter, Business Insider

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Patients with Alzheimer's and dementia are sit inside the Alzheimer foundation in Mexico City April 19, 2012. Image: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

An inmate sits in a cellblock which mainly houses prisoners with cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, and dementia, at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton, California, U.S., May 24, 2018. Image: REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Laura, 60, a patient with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, and former computer programming and psychology student. Image: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Image: Alzheimer's Research UK

An Alzheimer's patient exercises during a therapy session. Exercising regularly is a lifestyle factor that can influence your risk of dementia. Image: REUTERS/Edgard Garrido

Two-year-old Rhys Daniels, who suffered from the rare genetic disorder Batten's disease. The progression of Batten's disease leads to dementia and blindness and occurred in Rhys before the age of 7. He died just before the age of 8. Image: REUTERS/Simon Kreitem

Dan Garrett of the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London watches as a visitor tastes food using Tasteworks technology, a Virtual Reality experience that augments and stimulates taste. Tasteworks was developed from a study of dementia patients' communication difficulties. Such patients with deteriorating recognition capabilities may find eating stressful and unenjoyable. Image: REUTERS/Edgar Su

David Cameron (L) speaks with professors Nick Fox and Martin Rossor as he stands next to a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London March 26, 2012. Cameron announced that funding for research into dementia would be doubled to 66 million pounds by 2015. Funding went towards finding a cure but one has yet to be found. Image: REUTERS/Mark Richards/pool

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