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The YouGov poll, commissioned by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, revealed that 26% of people are more concerned about getting dementia than any other health condition. Only fear of cancer is greater (41%).

Among over 55s, fear of dementia actually supersedes fear of cancer; 39% of over 55s are most concerned about dementia, compared to 30% who are more scared of cancer.

This appears to reflect the comments of Terry Pratchett, the best-selling author and Patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, who caused a media furore in March when he said:

“I'd like a chance to die like my father did - of cancer, at 86. Remember, I'm speaking as a man with Alzheimer's, which strips away your living self a bit at a time. Before he went to spend his last two weeks in a hospice he was bustling around the house, fixing things. He talked to us right up to the last few days, knowing who we were and who he was. Right now, I envy him.”

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said:

"It is easy to see why people are so scared of Alzheimer’s and other dementias, as this YouGov poll shows. 25 million people in the UK know someone with dementia, and 700,000 people have the condition, a number expected to double within a generation. It is a nasty disease that we must do everything possible to tackle. Research into treatments and a possible cure is still terribly underfunded. Cancer, quite justly, receives substantial government funding for medical research; dementia should be treated proportionately too.”

Care costs for dementia are around £17 billion per year: more than cancer, stroke and heart disease combined. Only £11 is spent on research into Alzheimer's for every person affected by the disease, compared with £289 for cancer patients. 82% of the public support an increase in dementia research funding.