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The leading cause of the death in England is now..... senile dementia

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Jackpot

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Thought it was interesting how it's changed so that now the most popular way to die is from being so old your brain degenerates. The future of all countries?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37972141

Dementia now leading cause of death

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in England and Wales, latest figures reveal.

Last year, more than 61,000 people died of dementia - 11.6% of all recorded deaths.

The Office for National Statistics says the change is largely due to an ageing population.

People are living for longer and deaths from some other causes, including heart disease, have gone down.

Also, doctors have got better at diagnosing dementia and the condition is now given more weight on death certificates.
Click to expand...
 
There's the potential for a Farage joke here, but I have too much respect for those dealing with the pain of Alzheimer and Dementia to make it.
 
When I was stationed in England I lived across the street from an old lady that would constantly yell out for help through her window. She would say her house was on fire and that she's locked inside. Soon after that I found out from the neighbors that she suffered from dementia. Her caretakers would stop by weekly to take care of her but it seemed like she lived alone. Over the next two years she would repeat the same episode but then one day after I got back from a vacation I noticed that her house was empty and the parked car that was always in front of her home was gone now. The neighbors told me she passed away. I always felt bad for that lady, dementia sucks.
 
hobozero said:
There's the potential for a Farage joke here, but I have too much respect for those dealing with the pain of Alzheimer and Dementia to make it.
Click to expand...

Thank god you kept it to yourself, then, instead of fumbling both the joke and your declaration of respect.

On topic: As my grandmum gets older and starts to lose her sharpness, this is my biggest fear right now.
 
I mean, something has to be number one, right? It's sad to see so many having to experience it though. My great grandma had severe dementia. It was so hard to watch her struggle.
 
So apparently it turns out we're probably not equipped to get as old as we're getting.

Saw two of my grandparents lose their wits and memory completely at the end. One of them for a good two years, where she would essentially have a memory of ten minutes tops, absolutely heartbreaking to see.

I hope I'm spared that, really.
 
That's fucking rough. I have a grandmother who's going through dementia, and it's one of the worst things that could happen to someone.

Funny enough, she may outlive all my other grandparents (2 are already dead and 1 has diabetes and cancer).

Still, the last time I saw her was rough. I never want my parents to go through that.

CrimsonSquall said:
What's the difference between Alzheimers and dementia? Is it like losing memories versus illusions?
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Alzheimers is the disease, dementia is the symptom. Not everyone with dementia has Alzheimers (although around 70% do). Dementia can also be caused by other factors such as suffering a bad stroke in your later years. However nearly everyone with Alzheimers has dementia.
 
CrimsonSquall said:
What's the difference between Alzheimers and dementia? Is it like losing memories versus illusions?
Click to expand...

Dementia is more of an umbrella term covering several diseases, one of which is Alzheimers. Huntington's disease is another form, and is in my opinion one of the most disgusting and cruel diseases out there.

A largely unknown fact is that the elderly stand for a suprising amount of the number of suicides in the western world, largely due to being diagnosed with dementia and deciding to die on their own terms. In countries where medically assisted suicide became legal the suicide rates of elderly dropped severely as they could now get help to do it in controlled forms later on in the process.
 
I feel like if I don't die of some other cause, this will be the way that I go. Hopefully I'll be euthanized before it gets that far though.
 
Honestly I'm more scared of dying of dementia than almost anything else. I've had several family members die of cancer, which was absolutely horrible and tragic, but at least they still had their mental faculties until the end. Compare that to my best friend who watched his grandma die of Alzheimer's over the course of many years, slowly forgetting all of her family members' faces and names, to the point where she was not a functional person anymore. I do not want to go down like that. What's the point of being alive if your mind, the thing that makes you an individual, is gone? My friend and his dad both said they'd kill themselves rather than die of Alzheimer's, and I'm inclined to agree that I'd do the same.
 
Growing up and for many many years I always ranked 'worse ways to die' as drowning or burning to death.

As a 34 year old now, I firmly put dementia ahead of them or anything.
 
We certainly didn't evolve to live 70+ years. Our brains start to break down at that point and I hope modern medicine takes care of this problem soon.
 
My grandmother lived with dementia for about 8-10 years. She never did forget family members that she knew from about 20 years prior (roughly when I was a kid). Any new babies were not remembered and new people she met in that time period were never remembered. Towards the end, she had a memory span of about 3mins.

My mom has some serious mental issues going on, mostly hallucinations and living in a fantasy world. Like her mother, she hasn't forgotten people and I don't think her memory time span is short yet.

It's scary what the mind can do to you. I sure as hell never want to live long enough to even start on that path. I want to go when people think I'm too young to go. They say that about my grandfather at 72. He was mentally all there, still working, still driving, hadn't slowed down an ounce.
 
Can a mod change the title to England and Wales? This is blatant discrimination.
 
I have 2 grandparents that died with Alzheimer's... both extremely healthy physically till almost the very end. They suffered a ton for years. I would honestly rather go from an early heart attack.. dont care if its painful, at least its quick
 
collige said:
Honestly, I can't see this as being anything other than a good thing. What would people prefer to be #1?
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Well sure. Dimentia has its own difficulties though. It's awful to watch a family member forget everything about themselves and even be unable to take care of themselves.

Maybe it's not physically painful. But psychologically and emotionally, it is ridiculously painful.
 
the-pi-guy said:
Well sure. Dimentia has its own difficulties though. It's awful to watch a family member forget everything about themselves and even be unable to take care of themselves.
Click to expand...

My wife and I are presently living in this situation with her father. My mother in-law found him in a closet at around 2am today. The reason he was in the closet was because he was doing a weather update for some news show. Horrible experience all around. =[
 
collige said:
Honestly, I can't see this as being anything other than a good thing. What would people prefer to be #1?
Click to expand...

I've had family die of many different things. Dementia is the most heartbreaking and destructive. I'd never wish it on anyone.
 
Aiii said:
So apparently it turns out we're probably not equipped to get as old as we're getting.

Saw two of my grandparents lose their wits and memory completely at the end. One of them for a good two years, where she would essentially have a memory of ten minutes tops, absolutely heartbreaking to see.

I hope I'm spared that, really.
Click to expand...

Well, you won't remember anyway.

Stupid joke aside, one of my great aunts started to show memory loss due to Alzheimer. It's gut wrenching to see, because aside from that he's physically healthy and lively. Since my paternal grandfather died when my father was a toddler, I have no idea about a precedent from my male ancestry line. I will only know if it hits my father. From my mother's side things are looking good.
 
My 85 years old grandmother is currently suffering from dementia and she is making my Mom sick with all the Things she say or Do :(
 
I've seen people go through dementia and it is not something I would wish to happen to me. Something has to be number 1 though and something that is essentially related to being too old being number 1 speaks for how good the health system is in the UK. It's not something to do with lifestyle, it's not due to something that is infectious but just getting too old, albeit in the worst way possible.
 
Both my grandparents on my dad's side had dementia/Alzheimers though my grandma had it first and my granddad got it not long after grandma passed away.

My Granddad on my mum's has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and dementia is common in the later stages, that isn't going to be fun to watch my last granddad slowly waste away.

Honestly if I ever get diagnosed with dementia/Alzheimers I am going to make the most of my life while I still have my mind and then just off myself so I don't become a burden on my family as looking after someone with dementia/Alzheimers takes a huge toll on the person looking after them.
 
Jackpot said:
Thought it was interesting how it's changed so that now the most popular way to die is from being so old your brain degenerates. The future of all countries?
Click to expand...
Cancer is the one that will always come around. There's no way around it unless we figure out how to stop our DNA from aging.
 
My mother, who is 63, is showing signs of early onset dementia. It ranges from forgetting small trivial things (leaving lights on, forgetting to turn the hob off) to pretty big things, such as forgetting my daughters name or her own date of birth. It's truly heartbreaking.
 
Alzheimers is one of the worst ways you can watch someone die.

Currently in the stage where my grandma asks you the same question 5 times in one conversation and is losing control of her bowels. But her long term memory is still sharp. Once that's gone, I don't know what she will be like anymore.
 
Symphonia said:
My mother, who is 63, is showing signs of early onset dementia. It ranges from forgetting small trivial things (leaving lights on, forgetting to turn the hob off) to pretty big things, such as forgetting my daughters name or her own date of birth. It's truly heartbreaking.
Click to expand...

My grandmother went through it and it was horrible. We had to have some of our family looking after her even when she was in assisted living. I have another family member showing signs at almost the same age as your mom and it hurts to watch. The hardest part is when they realize it's happening and no one can stop it. Now I get a very real, very deep seated sense of dread about it happening to me as I age. Then I realize things like depression, alzheimers, bi-polar disorder etc. are all on the table as well.
 
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