Korean dementia patients up 2.4-fold in 5 years By Lee Joon-seung

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Koreans afflicted with dementia
jumped 2.4 times in the last five years due largely to an increase in life
expectancy, a report showed Friday.
The state-run National Health Insurance Corp. said the total number of people
that suffered from the disease stood at 132,524 last year from just 55,107
tallied in 2003.
"There has been a steady increase in cases during the cited period with the
100,000 mark being surpassed in 2006," a spokesperson for the corporation said.
He added that the rise in dementia cases is directly related to Koreans living
longer overall thanks to improvements in medical treatment methods.
He also said the increase in patients translated into a five-fold rise in medical
fees that soared to 233.09 billion won (US$205.18 million) in 2007 from 45.72
billion five years earlier.
The insurance corporation, in addition, said women were twice as likely to get
dementia as men, with greater numbers for the latter attributable to longer
average life expectancies
Last year there were 90,405 women diagnosed with dementia versus 42,119 for men.
There are no known treatments for degenerative dementia, although some scientists
claim that leading an active lifestyle can help reduce the risks of getting the
disease.