This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
ONS figures show dementia as leading cause of death
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has indicated that dementia has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in England and Wales.
The figures showed that in 2015, more than 61,000 people died of dementia, accounting for 11.6 per cent of all recorded deaths. The ONS has said the increase is due to an ageing population and also because doctors have become better at diagnosing dementia.
There has also been a reduction in the number of deaths from heart disease.
The majority of dementia deaths were seen among women with 41,283 dementia deaths and 20,403 dementia deaths in men. The variation meant, that for men, heart disease remained the leading cause of death in 2015, although all types of cancer was recorded as the most common death overall.
Hilary Evans of Alzheimer's Research UK said: "These figures once again call attention to the uncomfortable reality that currently, no-one survives a diagnosis of dementia.
"Dementia is not an inevitable part of ageing, it's caused by diseases that can be fought through research, and we must bring all our efforts to bear on what is now our greatest medical challenge."
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