§ Mr. BlunkettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will publish his best estimates of the total number of people suffering from Alzheimer's disease;
(2) if he will publish his best estimates of the total number of people suffering from dementia.
§ Mr. FreemanThe information available centrally relates only to admissions to National Health Service mental illness hospitals or units with a main diagnosis of dementia (International Classification of Diseases 290.0, 290.1, 290.2, 290.3, 290.4, 290.8, 290.9). Dementia in Alzheimer's disease is included under these diagnoses. In 1986, the most recent year for which information is available, there were 20,848 admissions with a diagnosis of dementia in its various forms. It is not known what proportion of these admissions are in fact dementia in Alzheimer's disease. The total figure above is not the number of patients suffering from dementia as a patient can be discharged and re-admitted more than once during a year. We do not hold information on the number of patients as opposed to admissions. Also not all sufferers are admitted to a NHS mental illness hospital or unit and so do not appear in official statistics.