Alzheimer Among Cancer And Heart Disease For Most Deaths

Alzheimer Among Cancer And Heart Disease For Most Deaths

According to a study published by the Chicago based Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the disease ranks third just behind cancer and heart disease when it comes to most deaths caused. The study was published this week in the Journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study contradicts most health organizations who do not consider that Alzheimer causes as many fatalities as suggested. The CDC or Central for Disease Control ranks the disease as the sixth largest killer.

Members of the research team addressed the disparity between their study and CDC numbers by saying that death certificates are the first way to measure a cause of death.

According to the team, a larger number of deaths should be attributed to Alzheimer based dementia than they are currently. During their study, the research team tracked 2,566 people of 65 years and older for up to eight years. Each year all members were tested for Alzheimer’s-type dementia.

According to epidemiologist Bryan James, who lead the study, death certificates are not the best way to measure the cause of death for a disease that can take up to ten years to fully set in. The reason for this is that the person diagnosed with Alzheimer may not die directly from the disease itself. However, they may die from something triggered by Alzheimer like losing the ability to swallow and increasing their risk of pneumonia due to food stuck in the windpipe. James says that while the hypothetical patient died from pneumonia, the initial trigger was Alzheimer’s disease.

Posted by George Daniels on Sunday March 09 2014, 3:54 AM EST. Ref: hngn. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0