Over a tenth of deaths in England and Wales caused by dementia

There were over 500,000 deaths in England and Wales in 2014 and out of these, over 50,000 were caused by dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to the Office of National Statistics.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that dementia is still the leading cause of death in women, accounting for 13.4 per cent of all female deaths. The leading cause of death for males in 2014 was ischaemic heart diseases, accounting for 14.8 per cent of all male deaths.

A total of 51,498 deaths were caused by dementia and Alzheimer's disease, with 34,321 of these recorded among women. Cancer accounted for the largest percentage of deaths registered in 2014 with 29 per cent.

Jeremy Hughes, chief executive at Alzheimer’s Society said: “It’s saddening to see that a tenth of all recorded deaths are due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease - an increase on last year’s figures. It is an alarming reminder of the desperate need for more investment into research to ultimately find a cure. In the short term, better quality and more accessible palliative care needs to be available to people with dementia who often have less access to this type of care than people with other conditions, like cancer.

“With 850,000 people living with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to soar to one million by 2021, dementia is one of the biggest health and social care challenges we face today. Historically dementia was mistakenly seen by many clinicians as a natural part of ageing and, as such, they have failed to record it as a cause of death.”

Between 2004 and 2014, the percentage of deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's disease increased by five per cent for men from two per cent to seven per cent and by 8.7 per cent for women from 4.7 per cent to 13.4 per cent.

In its report, the ONS said ‘deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's disease are increasing as people live longer, with women living longer than men.

‘Some of the rise over the last few decades may also be attributable to a better understanding of dementia. This means that doctors may be more likely to record dementia on the death certificate.’

There were 501,424 deaths registered in England and Wales in 2014, a fall of 1.1 per cent compared with 2013, according to the ONS.