Soap operas, celebrity and even dementia charities are offering a rose-tinted view of the terminal illness, which affects more than 90,000 Scots, according to one of Scotland's leading experts.

Professor June Andrews says it is wrong to suggest you can "live well" with dementia and the public are being misled into thinking memory loss is the main problem related to the condition.

"People are told 'worried about your memory? Go and see a doctor,' and told that it is possible to live well with dementia. But the truth is it is really grim when someone in your family has dementia," she said.

Professor Andrews, a leading dementia specialist, was speaking ahead of the launch of a new DVD tomorrow in Glasgow called We Need To Talk About Dementia.

It starts River City actors Barbara Rafferty and Stephen Purdon. Rafferty plays the part of a woman who has downsized her property to pay for a care home for her husband, whose health has gone into decline due to dementia. Purdon is a painter and decorator who doesn't realise memory loss is the least of her husband's problems.

In the course of the half hour film he learns that Rafferty's character is having to deal with a range of issues, including her husband's anxiety, frustration and aggression and the risk of him getting lost, as well as the huge financial impact on their lives.

The film has been produced and directed by Stuart Davids, who left his job as director on River City to look after his late mother five years ago when she was diagnosed with Lewy Bodies, a condition causing Parkinson's Disease and other forms of dementia.

He found the experience challenging and isolating, having no prior knowledge of what to expect, and no experience of care homes, psychiatric wards or anti-psychotic medication. He didn't have any idea, either, how to finance the care for his mother, who died three years ago.

He has since dedicated his time and skills to raising awareness and helping set out realistic expectations for other families about what may lie ahead after a dementia diagnosis.

The DVD, which is to be shared online but will also be distributed to GPs surgeries and other organisations dealing practically with dementia, is interspersed with a series of talking head interviews with key specialists advising on all the options that may need to be considered by carers, family members and people with dementia themselves, to arrange the best possible care and support.

The film will also be available online on a special micro-site set up by the charity the Dementia Services Development Trust, with additional information and links about diagnosis, care homes, financial advice and power of attorney.

It came about after Davids read one of Prof Andrews books on dementia. They met up and agreed there was a gap for something more honest about the reality of the condition which is estimated to affect 90,000 Scots and rising.

A mutual friend introduced Davids to leading dementia specialist, Professor June Andrews and the project idea was born.

He then enrolled actor and director friend, Neil Leiper who developed the original idea and script and they worked with Barbara and Stephen to make “We need to talk about Dementia”.

"If it works, we plan further 'docudramas'. For example if someone is violent and aggressive as a result of dementia, ethically, you can't necessarily film them - but you can do that much better in a drama," she said.

We Need to Talk About Dementia will be premiered in Glasgow tomorrow [Tuesday] at the Everyman Cinema in Princes Square. It will be followed by a question and answer session with Stuart David, Neil Leiper, the two actors and leading specialists including Professor Andrews and geriatric psychiatrist Dr Cesar Rodriguez, NHS Tayside's associate medical director for older people.