The University of Southampton

Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the the most common cause of dementia worldwide, affecting millions of people, however there are currently no disease modifying therapies available.  Dementia is a major public health problem.  The social and economic costs are already immense and with increasing life expectancy the problem will rise.  Dementia affects 5% over the age of 65 years and 20% over the age of 80 years amounting to 700,000 people in the UK alone, predicted to rise to over a million by 2025.  The cost to the UK economy is already estimated to be £17 billion a year.  The personal consequences on people developing dementia and their families are devastating and are not so easy to quantify. You can find out more details here.

Below you can see the work done by Vanessa Nogueira and Chloe Ride to illustrate Alzheimer’s disease through fashion. Further down, you can read their thoughts about Alzheimer’s disease, their work as artists, and how the these interacted to create their piece.