Around 800,000 suffer from dementia in UK

Jeremy Hunt has announced a new range of measures to help dementia sufferers as he bids to make the UK a "global leader" in fighting the illness

Figures from the Alzheimer's Society revealed:

• Around 800,000 people suffer from dementia in the UK
• This figure is likely to soar to 1.7 million by 2050
• One in three people over 65 will die with dementia
• There are over 17,000 people under 65 with the illness

• The charity estimate that the illness costs the UK over £23 billion a year, and this figure is likely to rise to £27 billion per annum by 2018
• Unpaid carers supporting someone with dementia save the economy £8 billion a year

Read: 'Dementia strips someone of their character'