What is the EU doing to tackle Alzheimer's?

Back in 2015, retired civil servant Gerry Paley started to feel and act differently. He was 59. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

"I forget things. I had to walk somewhere and took a message and I could not remember what the message was," he told Smart Health.

"I think Gerry kind of lost his confidence," explained Gerry's wife, Nuala. He wasn't sure of what he was doing any more. He was making big mistakes when doing things. He was missing very logical stuff."

The disease has no known cure. Existing medicines available in Europe can only help treat symptoms related to memory or behaviour.

"Medication is doing well for me. I'm walking all the time with my dog, and [I'm] outdoors all the time. So exercise is good," said Gerry.

Gerry lives near Dublin, Ireland's capital. He is one of the some 8 million EU citizens living in the labyrinth of dementia. This number is expected to almost double by 2050.

With no cure at hand, patients can only rely on daily activities to try to improve their quality of life. The Orchard Respite Centre in Dublin provides services to some 30 people living with dementia.

"People who have this condition, they can live up to 25 years," revealed Mary Hickey, the manager of the Centre. "They want to have a quality of life. We would always recommend that people see their consultant every six months and get a medical review. Sometimes we can even see the need for that from here, and we can recommend people to return to their care team," she added.

The development of therapies which can prevent or slow the progression of dementia is an active area of research, with promising medicines currently in development. But relevant breakthroughs are still elusive.

The European Commission