Dementia is the most common cause of death in women

The Office of National Statistics has identified the biggest cause of death in women throughout the UK is dementia, with almost 32,000 women losing their lives to dementia in 2013.

Dementia kills three times as many women than breast cancer and there were thousands more deaths than strokes and heart attacks during 2013.

The increasing numbers could be as a direct result of doctors noting the disease as a cause of death on death certificates and recognising the symptoms more frequently.

The figures revealed dementia is recognised as the third most common cause of death in men and coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death.

Policy manager for the Alzheimer’s Society, Gavin Terry said: “With 225,000 people developing dementia every year and numbers set to soar, dementia is one of the biggest health and social care challenges the UK faces.”

The study has shown for the first time that dementia is recognised as a leading cause of death in women.

The symptoms of dementia can include long-term forgetfulness, mood swings, trouble communicating and difficulty concentrating of which progressively worsen over time.

Mr Terry added: “For too long dementia has been wrongly seen by many clinicians as a natural part of ageing and, as such, they have failed to record it as a cause of death. Increasing awareness of the condition has started to combat this, and these figures are likely to be a product of that.

Research by the Alzheimer’s Society has revealed that by 2015 it expects 850,000 people will be living with a form of dementia within the UK and anticipate this figure to reach 2,000,000 by 2051.

The Alzheimer’s Society works to fund research and promote rights and lives of people who are living with a form of dementia and the people who care for them.

Mr Terry said: “We often hear of people with dementia not dying in the manner they want to. Staff working with people with dementia who might be nearing the end of their lives need to receive specific training so they can provide the best care possible and support those with dementia to die with dignity.”

The results from the Office of National Statistics show that the number of deaths where dementia was the main cause of death increased by seven per cent between 2012 -2013.

The figures reveal out of one in eight female deaths and one in sixteen male deaths, the primary cause was dementia. Furthermore, the total number of deaths across England and Wales exceeded 500,000 for the first time in six years.