Who gets dementia?

In most cases, doctors don't know why some people get the illnesses that cause dementia, but other people don't. They are working hard to find out more about dementia.

Here are some things we do know:

  1. The illnesses that cause dementia don’t spread from person to person. You don’t have to worry about ‘catching’ dementia from someone else.
  2. Not all older people get dementia. The younger a person is, the less likely they are to have dementia.
  3. Most people who have dementia become ill when they are older, in their 70s, 80s or 90s.
  4. Sometimes a person who is younger than 65 gets dementia, but this is less common. It is called young-onset dementia.
  5. Around 1 million people in the UK are living with dementia.
  6. Researchers are working hard to find our more about dementia and to find new treatments.

Find out more below:

This information was updated in November 2021 and is due for review in November 2023. Please contact us if you would like a version with references.