Welcome to the latest edition of The Carer Digital!

Our lead story has sent shockwaves around the country At this stage we are of course only reporting allegations and Mr Hancock through his spokespeople has refuted the claims He is claiming that text messages have been doctored and also citing that the journalist who revealed the WhatsApp exchanges has broken a nondisclosure agreement (NDA)

The NDA is an entirely separate issue, and will no doubt find its way into the High Court and while I’m no expert in legal matters there may be a public interest defence which the journalist may rely upon

That said the wider issue - did Mr Hancock reject expert scientific advice - has enormous implications

Not only for him I hasten to add If this is the case then questions will be asked about levels of decisionmaking whereby such important decisions are left solely to one person and should that person be able to override the opinions of highly qualified experts

This is an observation of decision-making by ministers generally - some government ministers find themselves in positions where they have had no previous experience (or precious little) and no qualification for the positions they hold, and thus, I suspect would rely on advisers and experts

Hindsight is a wonderful thing However I do remember reporting at the very height of the pandemic that just about 20 000 tests a day were being conducted by mid-April 2020

At that time any testing was strictly rationed and was being used to test people with symptoms and only then if they were in vulnerable settings such as hospitals or care homes or they were key workers Members of the public in the wider community who had symptoms could not access tests

It was decided, and policy, that at first the asymptomatic testing would only be done for those admitted directly from hospital as those people were deemed at highest risk After which anybody admitted to a care home from the wider community was tested as testing capacity expanded swiftly in May 2020

I suspect for it to be done any earlier it would have meant tests not being made available for another key group, which would have raised a whole separate issue

While this is subject of intense debate today and I m sure in the coming days I do feel Mr Hancock s spokesperson was correct when they said that the right place to examine what happened is the public enquiry

If anything to coin a phrase muddies the waters it is speculation and debate going on at the same time as the inquiry

We are receiving more and more articles relating to lifestyle changes and dementia An article on page 14 has revealed that women who lead active and healthy lives in middle age can lower the risk of dementia

This follows on from a seminar I sat in over 10 years ago when I was listening to one of the world s leading dementia experts comment on healthy lifestyles and dementia in later life

He said something which I was rather astonished to hear of at the time - that Big Pharma had all but given up trying to find a cure for dementia He said that over the years no trial had got past Stage 2 and pharmaceutical companies were putting their money into other areas of research

He added that leading a healthy lifestyle up to the age of 34 significantly reduced the chances of getting dementia These are lifestyle changes - healthy diet regular exercise don t smoke alcohol in moderation no illicit drugs and keeping an active mind all reduced the chances of dementia

After 34 he said lifestyle changes may help but it was up to the age of 34 which was crucial

We often see reports that dementia is a ticking timebomb in future costs and care

Research by the Alzheimer’s society revealed that pre-pandemic there were over 850,000 people with dementia in the UK representing 1 in every 14 of the population aged 65 years and over

In 2040 there will be over 1 5 million people with dementia in the UK at the current rate of prevalence and in 2019 748 000 of the people in the UK with dementia will live in England

46,000 in Wales, 66 000 in Scotland and 22,000 in Northern Ireland

If current trends continue and no action is taken the number of people with dementia in the UK is forecast to increase to 1 000 000 by 2025 and 1 590 000 by 2040

I do find it rather surprising that there is no drive to educate the public into adopting healthier lifestyles to reduce dementia

The costs are unsustainable and without sounding too cynical every opposition party promises more for social care after which every government in office kicks the can down the road

It is not that difficult to follow the advice of experts who advocate five healthy lifestyle factors, all of which have important health benefits:

At least 150 minutes per week of moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity – Physical activity is an important part of healthy aging

Not smoking – Established research has confirmed that even in people 60 or older who have been smoking for decades, quitting altogether will improve health

Light-to-moderate alcohol consumption – Limiting use of alcohol may help cognitive health

A high-quality Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet wh ch combines the Mediterranean diet and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet – The MIND diet focuses on plant-based foods linked to dementia prevention Engagement in late-life cognitive activities – Being intellectually engaged by keeping the mind active may benefit the brain

We are at the Alzheimer s and Dementia Care Show this weekend - March 3 and 4th - and I hope to get the opportunity to speak to leading experts It will be very interesting to get feedback on this recent study!

We are also media partners and exhibiting the same month at UK CARE WEEK at Birmingham s NEC organised by ROAR B2B and will keep you updated with regional and national care shows we will be exhibiting so please do watch this space for announcements of our future partnerships

And please follow us on Twitter we have hit the magic 10,000 followers, we are delighted to say and we want to get that up to 20 000! So please do follow us and encourage as many of your followers in the sector to follow us as well!

I can always be contacted at editor@thecareruk com