“It’s a big jump (in cases) this year,” Alzheimer’s Australia NSW Mid North Coast Sector and Capacity Development program manager Gary Thomas said.

 Mr Thomas said the disease is still feared within the community. 

However he said it is a disease which needs to be addressed through access to increased services.

He said it is frustrating as he knows there is a lot more which can be done to address the issue. 

Mr Thomas said there needs 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 positioned at number one. 

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

The biggest risk factor for developing dementia is ageing. 

Mr Thomas said anecdotally dementia has been a hidden disease.

“I think back to how many families had nanna out the back room and no one ever saw her,” he said.

“It just wasn’t recognised then and it was called senility.”

Mr Thomas said it’s 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 but if they start to have cognitive issues as well they isolate even further,” he said. 

“One of the things we know that 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 she became socially isolated.

“Because she didn’t have dad to cook for she reduced her food,” she said. 

“She would cook one thing, cut it up every night and by the end of the week it was black.”

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. 

Mr Thomas said carers can also become socially isolated due to the demand it takes to care for someone who has dementia. 

“The health outcomes for someone who is caring for another with dementia is significantly reduced compared with the normal population,” he said. 

In the last 15 to 20 years Mr Thomas said people know more about the brain than they ever did before. 

“And yet we do need 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 dollars being spent towards risk reduction messaging 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. 

Effects of dementia can be reversed and prevented through lifestyle factors.

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