Dementia and Alzheimer’s deaths in Wales on the increase

DEATHS from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on the increase, new figures show.

Mortality statistics for Wales and England show that the conditions were the leading cause of death last year, accounting for more than one in eight of all deaths (12.7%).

Meanwhile, the overall number of deaths was the highest since 2003, with 533,253 registered in England and Wales in 2017.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that with increases in both the size and age of the population, the number of deaths is expected to rise further.

A total of 67,641 deaths were attributed to dementia and Alzheimer’s last year, up from 62,948 the previous year.

Among women, the conditions accounted for 16.5% of deaths, compared with 15.6% in 2016.

With people living longer and surviving other illnesses, the number developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is increasing, the ONS said.

Meanwhile, a better understanding of dementia and improved diagnosis is also likely to have caused increased reporting of dementia on death certificates, it added.

The second leading cause of death was ischaemic heart diseases, accounting for just over one in 10 deaths (10.9%).

Chronic lower respiratory diseases, which affect the lungs, were the third leading cause of death, overtaking cerebrovascular diseases such as strokes and brain haemorrhages.

Lung cancer has remained the fifth leading cause of death.