Deaths from dementia have doubled in Israel

Mortality rates lower now than at the turn of century, but improvement is more dramatic in men.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Updated: JULY 16, 2015 03:18
Candle (photo credit: REUTERS)
Candle
(photo credit: REUTERS)
While the Israeli mortality rate have declined in the last 12 years, deaths from cancer – the most common cause – have remained steady, while deaths from dementia (mostly Alzheimer’s disease) have more than doubled, the Health Ministry says in a report on the leading causes of death.
The rate declined in Israeli women during this period by 32 percent and in their male counterparts by 35 percent.
Sepsis (a whole-body inflammatory response to an infection that can lead to systems failure), pneumonia and influenza were also more common underlying causes of death in the past decade than before 2000.
The death rates are lower compared to most European countries. In Israel, the rate is 928 per 100,000 people per year – lower than in 17 European countries. Rates are lower only in Italy and France (871), Canada (881), Switzerland (882) and Spain (898). The Israeli death rate per 100,000 males is the lowest “in Europe” at 1,068, while among Israeli women, it is fifth lowest, at 814, with only France (669), Spain (703), Switzerland (739), Italy (755) and Canada (748) lower.
After malignant diseases, cardiovascular disease is the most common killer in Israel, as it is in most European countries and Canada. Less-common causes of death include strokes, complications of diabetes, sepsis, kidney disorders and respiratory diseases.
For Israeli males aged 15 to 24, suicide is the most common cause of death, and it is the third most common for men aged 25 to 55 and females 15 to 44. Accidents and cancer are the leading cause of death among Israeli boys aged five to 14; cancer, followed by accidents, is the most common cause of death in girls of those ages.
Malignancies are the most common causes of death in all the other age groups as well, except for women aged 75 and over, when heart disease is more common than cancer.