![How the Illawarra's lifestyle may be influencing the region's leading cause of death How the Illawarra's lifestyle may be influencing the region's leading cause of death](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/HcD9H4nNcktxiWcmkEEpQD/2675ecb6-f363-4105-9fc9-c7629e8c0df0.jpg/r0_18_1367_823_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Dementia is the leading cause of death for Illawarra residents, according to new data which shows how Australians are most likely to die in different places across Australia.
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This differs from the national trend, which shows coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death across Australia (causing 10.83 per cent of deaths), while dementia ranks second, causing 8.97 per cent of deaths.
According to figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, just over 11 per cent of Illawarra deaths were from dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, between 2017 and 2021.
Dementia is already the leading cause of death for women nationally, and the leading cause of premature death in older Australians, and experts predict it will overtake coronary heart disease as the number one cause nationally.
University of Wollongong research Associate Professor Lyn Phillipson said the reason the Illawarra, and each of the local government areas within it, was ahead of this trend was likely to do with the region's higher rates of chronic disease and an older population.
She said dementia risk increases with age, which means, the longer you live, the more likely you are also to die with or from dementia.
But there are also certain other risk factors, which are linked with lifestyle - such as smoking, physical activity or diet - and the rates of chronic disease.
"A lot of people know about Alzheimer's disease, but the second most common form of dementia is vascular dementia," Prof Phillipson said.
"If you also have cardiovascular disease and diabetes, you're more likely to develop dementia as you age and dementia is also associated with lifestyle factors like smoking or low rates of physical activity.
"You can see that, in the Illawarra, the second leading cause of death is coronary heart disease and our third most likely is cerebrovascular disease (stroke, aneurysms etc_, and our fourth most likely is lung cancer which suggests we have fairly high rates of smoking."
The fifth leading cause of death is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (which includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis and chronic asthma).
The new data also shows differences in the leading causes of death in the local government areas of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama.
All three have dementia as the number cause, followed by coronary heart disease. Wollongong, Kiama and the Illawarra as a whole follow the national trend of having cerebrovascular disease as the third most likely cause of death, but in Shellharbour lung cancer ranks third.
Prof Phillipson said this was an indicator that smoking was a particular problem in that LGA.
"We also have particularly high rates of social disadvantage in some parts of the region where chronic disease and smoking rates are quite high," she said.
With rates of dementia increasing, she said the cause of death statistics showed a need to focus on preventative health and public awareness of how small changes could make a difference.
"This data tells us we need to have an increased focus on brain health throughout our life cycle, and people need a better understanding that we can be doing things to look after the health of our brain," she said.
"I think people don't necessarily associate things like smoking, physical activity or diet with brain diseases, and they may not associate their chronic disease such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease as putting them at increased risk of the development of dementia."
She said improving heart health could decrease the risk or delay the onset of dementia, and added that it was never too late for someone to make lifestyle changes.
"For example, if you have uncontrolled high blood pressure and we introduce a good strategy to manage that, even after you've developed vascular dementia, you can slow the progression,"
"We have to do more to prevent brain disease, but it's also never too late to try and maximise brain health. We know that physical activity, cognitive stimulation, improved diet, even in people with more moderate to advanced dementia can make a big difference in their cognitive function."