It is little wonder that dementia is the condition that more than four in five of us most fear. Not only is it synonymous with losing our independence, but it is also the condition that we hear most about from friends or family.

There is much more to be done to improve the lives of those living with dementia, but also to change the perceptions of society as a whole of the care we or our loved may receive.

Almost half of us have experience of a loved one living with the daily challenges that living with dementia can bring and a further one in five know somebody outside of the family who is. 

In fact, when talking about a loved one, 84 per cent of respondents who took part in Saga Populus, the largest monthly survey of over 50s’ opinion in the UK, feared their partner developing the condition, higher than cancer at 82 per cent.

“Today's figures from the Alzheimers Society clearly show that not only is the scale of people living with the condition vastly underestimated – it also explains why people are so fearful of the condition. Despite the sheer number of people living with dementia their report shows that people’s expectations of the care they would receive in a residential care setting is disappointingly low.  This increases the pressure on families and loved ones at what is already a very emotional time,” says Tim Pethick, managing director of Saga Magazine.     

 Saga Populus interviewed 9,049 Saga customers, all aged over 50, online between September 5-28, 2012.

-- Nearly half (48 per cent) of all respondents personally knew someone who suffered from dementia. The older the respondent, the more likely they were to know someone with dementia, rising from 43 per cent of 50-54 year olds to 53 per cent of those aged 75 and above. A fifth (19 per cent) of respondents did not personally know someone suffering from the illness but had third hand knowledge of someone who did.

 -- Cancer and dementia were the most feared illnesses, four-fifths of all respondents cited cancer (80 per cent) as the illness they were most fearful of developing and the same number cited dementia (80 per cent). Although the fear of dementia increased by age-group (81 per cent of those aged 75 and above are most fearful of developing dementia compared to 72 per cent of 50-54 year olds), the fear of developing cancer remained the same across all ages.

 -- Respondents were less concerned about developing high blood pressure; only five per cent of respondents said it was the illness they were most fearful of developing.

 -- Dementia is the illness respondents were most fearful of their partner, close friend or relative developing (84 per cent); cancer the second (82 per cent); and a stroke third (70 per cent).