Association of Anatomical Pathology Technology
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Major causes of death and how they have changed
Since 2001, death rates from heart disease and stroke have halved for both males and females.
Over the same time period deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s have increased by 60% in males and have doubled in females.
In 2015, heart disease was the most common cause of death for males. It was the cause of 1.8 times as many deaths as the second leading cause of death: dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. For females, dementia and Alzheimer’s was the most common cause of death, followed by heart disease. For both males and females over 80, dementia and Alzheimer’s was the leading cause of death.