Alzheimer’s deaths on the rise in Spain

More people die from Alzheimer’s now than they did 13 years ago, with nearly 12,000 victims a year.

This makes the condition the most common cause of death among nervous system disorders, which claim 20,250 lives a year in Spain.

Nervous system conditions represent 5.2 per cent of fatalities and are the fourth highest non-accidental cause of death in Spain.  Circulatory system disorders, such as heart problems and stroke, amounting for 30.5 per cent which is just over 118,000 victims a year.

Heart conditions and strokes are more likely to claim lives than cancer, which signifies 28.2 per cent of non-accidental deaths, or just over 109,000 a year in Spain. That is an increase of two per cent between 2010 and 2011, according to the most recent statistics available and is a period during which respiratory disorders causing mortality rose by five per cent.

Among deaths from cancer, men are more likely to suffer from lung or bronchial tumours and women from breast cancer, with colon cancer being the third most common cause of fatalities.

But in the case of breast cancer, early detection normally means a high survival rate and the majority of cancer deaths result from the disease spreading and causing secondary tumours. Scientists say the overall survival rate from cancer is currently 65 per cent. 

All three types of cancer are increasing rapidly in number, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE) in Spain.