Most of dementia patients live a long time with the diseases, from 10 to 20 years, which makes dementia one of the most expensive diseases, and a great burden to social services, health care, and relatives. As in the 21st century the number of older people is growing, it can be expected that dementia will become one of the greatest medical challenges, the fact of which both the World Health Organisation and politics are quite aware of. In 2016 approximately 32 thousand in of Slovenia suffered from dementia, and that number is excepted to double by 2050.

The president of the Slovenian Alzheimer Association Forget-me-not Štefanija Lukič Zlobec said for MMC that she got familiar with the Alzheimer disease, which is the most widespread form of dementia, when her husband, the late poet and politician Jaša Zlobec, fell ill. He was treated by Dr Aleš Kogoj, one of the few dementia specialists in Slovenia, the founder of the Forget-me-not association in the far 1997. This year The Forget-me-not is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and in order to honour the jubilee the 9th International Conference on Dementia will be organized in October. The conference will be dedicated to the subject a society friendly to dementia patients, and their relatives.

No new medicines since 2002
"More money should be spent on research; the importance of cooperation of the researchers from all over the world should be emphasized as well, as it would finally lead to discovery of a new, and more efficient medication. Dementia is among the rare diseases for which no new, improved medications have been placed on the market since 2002," Zlobec explained, and added that especially states should contribute more funds for researches, as dementia is turning into a large financial problem for modern societies.

Gorazd Kosmač
Translated by G. K.