While cancer remains the leading killer in England and Wales, dementia is making its presence felt more today than a decade ago.
Data based on death records published by the Office for National Statistics showed that all types of cancer combined account for almost one-third of deaths, with lung cancer emerging as the deadlier form for both men and women.
Heart disease remains the top cause of death among men, accounting for nearly 15 percent of cases in 2014.
For the first time since 2012, dementia overtook heart illness as the leading killer in women and was the second leading killer in men, claiming a total of 51,000 lives per year. The proportion of deaths from dementia among women increased from 12.2 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent the next year.
Based on the figures [pdf], too, there were three times as many female deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's disease than breast cancer, also a prevalent condition among the population. While the cognitive conditions caused only one in 21 deaths a decade earlier, they now account for one in seven.
People are believed to be living longer to contract dementia, with women living longer than men. Dementia figures could also be rising due to increased awareness and willingness of health care providers to record dementia on death certificates.
Alzheimer's Research UK Chief Executive Hilary Evans said the latest numbers highlight a stark reality.
"[W]ith no treatments yet able to affect the course of Alzheimer's and other dementias, no one currently survives a diagnosis of dementia," she warned, citing the untold heartaches for suffering families.
Evans urged the medical community to employ medical advances in helping reduce the impact of dementia, the way they did for conditions such as heart disease.
"Investment in research is vital if we are to find ways of treating and preventing dementia," she said, pinpointing the ultimate goal of reducing deaths from the devastating cause.
The ONS recorded a total number of 501,424 registered deaths in England and Wales last year, a decrease of 1.1 percent from the previous one. A decline was also seen in heart disease and stroke deaths since 2004, dipping by 40 and 42 percent in both sexes.
Photo: Jake Stimpson | Flickr
