Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease remain leading causes of death

Recently released information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), revealed that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease remained the leading cause of death in England and Wales in 2016. Together, they accounted for 12.0 percent of all deaths registered in 2016, up from 11.6 percent in 2015.

Ischaemic heart diseases remained the second leading cause of death in England and Wales. It was responsible for 11.0 percent of all deaths registered in 2016, down from 11.5 percent in 2015.

Ischaemic heart diseases were the most commonly recorded cause of death for males (13.7 percent) while for females dementia and Alzheimer disease remained prevalent at 15.6 percent.

Vasita Patel, Vital Statistics Outputs Branch, Office for National Statistics, said: “Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was once again the leading cause of deathfor England and Wales in 2016, with an increase in number of deaths compared with 2015.

“Although general increases in longevity and improved treatment of other conditions are part of the reason for this increase, improvements in recognition, identification and diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease have also contributed.”