Dementia touches lives in profound and painful ways — stripping away memories, altering personalities, and reshaping relationships. It's not just a personal journey, but a societal one. In the UK alone, nearly a million people are currently living with dementia, and that number is expected to reach 1.4 million by 2040.
For individuals and families navigating this reality, the Alzheimer’s Society provides vital support, research funding, and hope. At Chase Buchanan, we’re proud to contribute to this mission by partnering with the charity, supporting their initiatives in the communities where we live and work.
This article explores what dementia really means, how it affects people differently, and what we can all do to make a difference.
Dementia is not a single disease but a broad term that describes a range of conditions affecting the brain. It causes a progressive decline in cognitive abilities — including memory, decision-making, communication, and perception — that goes beyond normal ageing.
Early signs may be subtle: forgetting names, struggling to find the right word, or misplacing things more often. However, over time, these symptoms can grow into serious challenges that affect daily life, relationships, and independence.
Getting a timely diagnosis is crucial. It allows individuals and families to plan, access support, and often slow the condition’s progression through lifestyle changes or medication.
While every person’s experience is different, dementia typically falls into one of several types — each with its own causes and patterns.
Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia, developing gradually, and usually in later life. It’s caused by damage to brain cells and is characterised by disrupting memory, reasoning, and communication.
Typical early signs:
● Forgetting recent conversations or events
● Difficulty concentrating
● Confusion about time or place
● Mood or personality shifts
Vascular dementia is often linked to strokes or reduced blood flow to the brain, vascular dementia typically affects problem-solving and causes fluctuating levels of awareness.
Watch for:
● Difficulty making decisions or organising tasks
● Slowed thinking
● Poor attention span
● Sudden moments of disorientation
Dementia with Lewy bodies is a lesser-known type of dementia that shares some features with Parkinson’s disease, which can often lead to misdiagnosis. It’s associated with unusual protein deposits in the brain, caused by Lewy body disease, and can cause highly disturbing psychological and physical symptoms.
Common indicators include:
● Hallucinations
● Tremors
● Inconsistent attention and alertness
● Disturbed sleep
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) typically affects people under 65 and impacts the parts of the brain responsible for personality, behaviour, and language.
There are two main forms:
● Behavioural FTD, which is associated with social withdrawal, inappropriate behaviour, obsessive habits, or emotional detachment.
● Language FTD (PPA), which is associated with difficulty speaking, forgetting the names of objects, or forming shorter, fragmented sentences.
The effects of dementia extend far beyond memory loss. Over time, the condition can rob people of their independence, communication capabilities, and emotional stability. Many experience feelings of confusion, anxiety, or fear as their world becomes harder to navigate.
For families, it can be also emotionally overwhelming — watching a loved one become unfamiliar, managing care responsibilities, and coping with grief long before any physical loss occurs. It can also cause enormous financial strain as loved ones seek to manage the cost of care.
For more than four decades, the Alzheimer’s Society has been a powerful force in the UK — advocating for those living with dementia, investing in research, and offering expert advice and support networks. To get an idea of how important their work is to our society, it helps to understand that dementia is the leading cause of death in the UK, and one in three people born today will develop dementia at some point in their lives. These numbers reflect a growing public health crisis — one that needs long-term attention, funding, and compassion.
Chase Buchanan takes enormous pride in supporting The Alzheimer's Society, seeing it as a vital part of our commitment to the local communities in which we work. It's our mission to help them in their work to enhance care and support for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, as well as their carers and families.
We do this through fundraising and awareness activities, sponsoring and participating in various local events, with schools, sports teams, charities and other local groups, empowering them to achieve their goals, whether it's raising funds or providing necessary assistance.
If you would like to get involved with the Alzheimer's Society, you can donate via their website, join a fundraising event, or organise your own. You can even join their amazing team of volunteers!