With dementia, the statistics are brutal. If you reach 85, one in four will have dementia. By the age of 95, it's one in two. The biggest risk factor with dementia is age and we are ageing as a country very quickly.

The figures contained in the Economic Cost of Dementia In Australia report, released in February this year, paint a bleak picture. Today there are an estimated 413,000 Australians living with dementia, 55 per cent of whom are female. That number is expected to leap to 536,000 by 2025 and to an incredible 1.1 million by 2056.

That dramatic and disturbing growth is driven by the rapid ageing of our community.

Today there are about 4,000 Australians over 100. By mid-century it will be 70,000. The ageing of the Baby Boomer generation is changing the face of our society and massively expanding the dementia challenge.

The report also makes clear the startling financial burden of dementia care. This year it will cost $14 billion to fund the medical, hospital, community care and aged care to support Australians living with dementia. Over the next eight years that cost will climb by $4 billion putting at risk the Federal Government's plans to bring the budget under control.

So, the challenge will impact on all of us — on the individuals who are being diagnosed, their families and carers, the health care system and the wider economy. It's time now, before the numbers overwhelm, to think about how to approach the problem.

Expanding dementia care

Most people live with dementia for five to 15 years and for most of that time they live at home, which is where most want to be. It also happens to be cheaper for the government. Improved and expanded community dementia care is essential if we are to keep the person with dementia and their families happy, and manage the economic cost of dementia.

But many with dementia will need residential care at some stage as the disease develops. Ensuring high quality, well-staffed and affordable residential care is in place is expensive and will be a burden on the federal budget for much of this century.

But there is also evidence in the report that should give us some hope. The report shows that if there could be just a 5 per cent reduction in the number of people with dementia over the age of 65 there could be savings of $5.7 billion for 2016 -2025 and a staggering $120.4 billion by 2056.

Prevention may be possible

Dementia is a fatal, progressive disease of the brain that impacts on memory, cognition and behaviour. There is growing evidence to suggest the onset could be slowed or, in some cases, prevented.

Evidence indicates that leading a brain healthy lifestyle may reduce a person's risk of developing dementia. That means looking after your heart, being physically active, mentally challenging your brain, following a healthy diet and being socially involved. Giving up smoking and not drinking to excess is essential. Avoiding head injury, getting blood pressure under control and managing depression will also help.

We should do these things because they will lead to a happier life but that may also be a life free from dementia. We should take these steps for our families, for our economy and for ourselves.

A diagnosis of dementia does not mean life is over. People live with it, often for many years. A diagnosis is part of a person's life; it need not be the only thing in their life. People with dementia can still live happy, contented lives, love others and be loved.

Certainly if dementia reaches its end stage, it can be challenging and depressing but it can take many years to reach that point. Most newly diagnosed people I meet realise they still have a lot of living to do.

It's all of our duties to help them with that, to show our understanding, our acceptance and to give them our time and our love.

Maree McCabe is chief executive of Alzheimer's Australia.