stage: 6

How people with dementia die — the medical reality behind the statistics

Pneumonia is the most common immediate cause of death in people with advanced dementia. As the disease progresses to its final stages, the brain loses the ability to coordinate swallowing properly, leading to a condition called dysphagia. This makes it likely that small amounts of food, liquid, or saliva will enter the lungs rather than the stomach, causing aspiration pneumonia. The immune system also becomes less effective in the late stages, reducing the ability to fight off infection. Urinary tract infections that spread to the kidneys and sepsis are also common. Dementia is increasingly being recorded as the primary cause of death on death certificates in the UK.