‘We need to act now on brain health’

A GP with a special interest in dementia says it is time for brain health to be monitored as routinely as heart health, as the disease’s toll is driven upwards by an ageing Australian population and modifiable risk factors.
 
Dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, has overtaken ischaemic heart disease as the nation’s leading cause of death, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
 
Dementia accounted for over 17,500 deaths in 2024, climbing by 39% in the past 10 years and gradually gaining ground on ischaemic heart disease.
 
In 2023, dementia accounted for 9.1% of total deaths in Australia, while heart disease accounted for 9.3%.
 
But last year, dementia overtook heart disease, with total deaths from dementia 9.4% compared to 8.7% from ischaemic heart disease.
 
Most of those dementia deaths, 62.4%, were women, with the disease the leading cause of death for women since 2016.
 
Dr Stephanie Daly warns that GPs will see ‘more and more’ consultations involving someone who either has cognitive concerns, or a relative with dementia.
 
‘The reason for its increase is a mixture of people living longer, predominantly, but also a lack of awareness of midlife risk factors that may delay onset or reduce impact,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘We need to act now to embed brain health checks in midlife, just like we acted on heart disease, so we can reduce the likelihood of people developing dementia.’
 
The ABS’ head of mortality statistics, Lauren Moran, said 68.2% of dementia deaths in 2024 were people aged over 75 years, compared to 66.1% 10 years ago and 63.3% 20 years ago.
 
‘People are now more likely to live to an age where they have a higher risk of developing dementia,’ she said. 
 
‘This is especially true for women who have longer life expectancies.’
 
Dr Daly said ageing should not automatically be equated with cognitive decline.
 
‘The bottom line is, as primary care practitioners we can no longer think that memory complaints are just ageing,’ she said.
 
‘Dementia is a disease that can be prevented and/or delayed with good medical care and even better access to diagnostics – and in the future, better treatments – so becoming skilled in this area will be advantageous for us all.
 
‘Understanding and making a diagnosis can assist the GP in being more proactive about care rather than firefighting problems.’
 
Log in below to join the conversation.

ageing population Alzheimer’s cause of death dementia memory loss