Grandfather Keith Turner argues passionately and coherently for Alzheimer's sufferers to be given the drugs they need to live a normal life.

But just a few years ago the retired chiropodist from Hastings was confused, unable to recognise Lillian, his wife of more 40 years, and prone to becoming lost.

Now 68, his life has been transformed by taking Aricept. His campaign for fellow patients to be given the £2.50-a-day drug is based on personal experience.

Before he began his treatment, he says, he was often wandering off and could not be left on his own.

He speaks frankly of how he was unable to follow television programmes or read because of his dementia and would sometimes burst into tears.

In the midst of this bleak existence, he began taking Aricept in November 2004.

Now he is able to drive a car, go shopping on his own, and work at his local branch of the Alzheimer's Society.

"I am living a perfectly normal life," he says.

Mr Turner is astonished by the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to prescribe the drug only to people suffering from a moderate stage of the disease.

"This tablet, £2.50 a day which they say I'm not worth, my goodness I reckon it's better than winning the lottery," he says.