Enteral tube feeding in people with advanced dementia
### What you need to know Dementia is a chronic, progressive, and irreversible disease affecting cognition, behaviour, and function. Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, and mixed dementia (Alzheimer’s and vascular pathology) constitute most cases. Worldwide, more than 57 million people are living with dementia, and this number is expected to increase to more than 152 million in 2050.1 The regions projected to have the highest percentage increases in dementia cases are north Africa, the Middle East, and eastern sub-Saharan Africa.1 A recent meta-analysis found that mean survival time from onset of Alzheimer’s disease was 7.6 years, and this was shorter for people with non-Alzheimer’s dementia (6.5 years for vascular dementia and 6.8 years for dementia with Lewy bodies).2 While there is heterogeneity in disease progression, people dying from dementia typically experience a prolonged advanced stage.34 Many people with advanced dementia experience burdensome symptoms and poor quality o
