{"id":139474,"date":"2025-09-13T05:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T05:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139474\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T05:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T05:44:07","slug":"advocates-call-for-action-on-brain-health-as-aihw-reveals-dementia-is-leading-cause-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/139474\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates call for action on brain health as AIHW reveals dementia is leading cause of death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australians are dying from dementia more than any other cause, with advocates warning the number of people with the condition could exceed 1 million without government intervention.<\/p>\n

Dementia accounted for almost 17,400 deaths in 2023, equivalent to almost one in 10 of all deaths, according to a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare<\/a>.<\/p>\n

‘I watched my husband change’: Dementia diagnoses being missed, study finds<\/a><\/p>\n

Dementia researchers are calling for changes to the way one of the most common forms of younger-onset dementia is diagnosed.<\/p>\n

It is the leading cause of death for women and second to heart disease for men.<\/p>\n

More than 425,000 Australians were estimated to be living with dementia in 2024, equivalent to 16 people in every 1,000.<\/p>\n

But the rate rises quickly from one in 1,000 for people aged 30 to 59 to 210 per 1,000 in Australians aged 85 to 89.<\/p>\n

By 2065, almost 1.1 million people are predicted to have dementia, a 2.5-fold increase.<\/p>\n

“While 2065 may seem far away [40 years], these time frames are relevant to the early and mid-life prevention measures that can decrease the risk of developing dementia in later years,” the AIHW report states.<\/p>\n

‘We simply cannot afford to wait’<\/p>\n

The report revealed the enormous impact dementia had on families, Dementia Australia chief executive Tanya Buchanan said.<\/p>\n

“People affected by dementia often tell us that friends and family drift away after a diagnosis, because they are unsure of how to interact,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

By 2065, almost 1.1 million people are predicted to have dementia. (AAP: Glenn Hunt)<\/p>\n

Ahead of Dementia Action Week, Professor Buchanan said the federal government must commit to funding a national conversation to raise awareness and promote brain health at all ages.<\/p>\n

“By taking a comprehensive approach, we can reduce the impact of dementia into the future,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We simply cannot afford to wait.”<\/p>\n

A community-wide responsibility<\/p>\n

Australia spent almost $3.7 billion on dementia diagnosis, treatment and care in 2020\u201321, with residential aged care services accounting for almost half of that.<\/p>\n

I watched my mum succumb to dementia. Will it come for me, too?<\/a><\/p>\n

After witnessing my mum’s cognitive decline and with dementia now the leading cause of death for Australian women, I can’t help but wonder: Will I be among them?<\/p>\n

Advocate Lil Mirtl, who lives with dementia, says it is a community-wide responsibility, adding there is no time to feel uncomfortable or awkward about these conversations.<\/p>\n

Dementia was the second leading cause of disease burden in 2024.<\/p>\n

Obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, head injury, high blood pressure, untreated hearing and vision loss, depression and diabetes increase the risk of developing dementia.<\/p>\n

Protective factors include high levels of education, physical and cognitive activity and social engagement.<\/p>\n

AAP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australians are dying from dementia more than any other cause, with advocates warning the number of people with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[95460,64,63,11792,9757,137,95462,95461],"class_list":["post-139474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-aihw","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-institute-of-health-and-welfare","tag-dementia","tag-health","tag-lil-mirtl","tag-tanya-buchanan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}