Dementia rise among women means a less healthy old age

THE NUMBER of years a woman can expect to live in decent health has stopped growing for the first time because of the rising prevalence of dementia, a government report has found.

British women now have a healthy life expectancy – the number of years of good health – of 63.9 years, down from 64.1 years between 2009 and 2011.

This is the same as for men, but the new analysis by Public Health England shows that in contrast to women, male healthy life expectancy has continued to improve over the same period.

It forms part of a wider picture showing British women to be among the sickest in Europe, compared with British men who fare relatively well.

Women from the UK ranked 18th out 28 EU countries for premature death, whereas UK men were ranked 10th. Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are now the leading cause of death among women, accounting for 15.8 per cent, and experts believe the impact of the disease in damaging life expectancy has doubled in the last seven years.

Women are believed to be disproportionately affected by dementia partly due to genetic reasons, but also because fewer die from heart-related diseases in their 50s and 60s. Men who do not die tend to have better heart health, which is associated with a lower chance of developing dementia.

Total life expectancy at birth is now 79.5 for men and 83.1 for women, meaning women spend a greater proportion of their life in poor health.

The report also predicts that England will be “smoke-free” by 2030, by which it means smoking rates of less than 10 per cent.