MORE than 215,000 prescriptions to help treat dementia were handed out last year, a rise of almost 60,000 in two years.
The Tories said the statistics provide "evidence on the ground of how the curse of dementia is becoming an increasing problem".
A total of 215,359 items were dispensed to dementia sufferers in 2013-14 - the equivalent of prescribing a pill to treat the condition 24 times an hour, according to the Conservatives.
But while the number of prescriptions had jumped from 155,686 two years previously, the cost of the drugs almost halved over that period.
Scotland's ageing population has sparked fears that the number of people suffering from the condition will rise in the coming years.