Dementia deaths & incidence on the rise

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDNov 10 2010

A new report highlights the fact that one in six deaths are caused by dementia in England. The report looked at death certificates between 2001 and 2009 and found that conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease account for 15 per cent of deaths in England. Two-thirds of victims died in nursing or residential care homes and a third in hospital. Most campaigners claim that the actual figures may be higher and put it as one in three deaths. The report also says that the total number of deaths due to dementia are rising.

The report figures have come from the NHS body the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network. It shows that 631,078 deaths were due to dementia, Alzheimer’s or senility out of 4,339,000 deaths recorded in England between 2001 and 2009. It adds that with the growing number of people who live longer dementia incidence would rise. It concluded that between 2010 and 2030 the number estimated to have dementia at any one time will increase by 440,960 to 1,054,000.

Minister for Care Services Paul Burstow said that there must be more preparations to deal with the impact this disease will have on society. He added that the Coalition was “committed to improving the care for people with dementia.” Ruth Sutherland, interim chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said, “The research shows that a staggering 15 per cent of deaths are attributable to dementia but this is the tip of the iceberg – we know that one in three people over 65 will die with dementia and we need death certificates to reflect this… Research from the National Audit Office found that the UK is in the bottom third of Europe when it comes to dementia care… This is disgraceful. Dementia training must be provided to all care home and hospital staff to ensure people receive quality care.”

Claire Henry, director of the National End of Life Care Programme, explained that patients with these illnesses were often far less able to communicate and understand nurses and other staff. She added, “Care home staff need to be given appropriate training and support in both end of life care in general and the particular challenges of caring for people with dementia…Homes need professionals who can assess a person’s needs and support him or her in advance care planning.”