Memory clinics, paid-for medicines help to support dementia patients

A shortage of nursing homes for dementia patients in Beijing will only worsen as the city's population rapidly ages over the next few years, experts said.

The number of people in the capital suffering from dementia, which affects thinking and memory, is estimated at between 150,000 and 200,000, or about 7.8 percent of the total population age 60 or older, according to Gao Xiaojun, an official from the Beijing Commission of Health and Family Planning.

A number of factors can cause dementia, including strokes, head injuries, prolonged depression and diseases such as Alzheimer's, but aging is a major reason. "The incidence of suffering dementia doubles with every five more years for people above 60 years old," Gao said.