Chronic illnesses are killing hundreds of people in Bendigo each year, with coronary heart disease claiming 158 lives more than the next highest cause of death in 2021.
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New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has revealed coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death for all Australians, however, for women only, dementia is the top killer.
For Bendigo women, dementia - including Alzheimer's disease - accounted for 11.7 per cent of all causes of death.
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Across the country, deaths from dementia - including Alzheimer's disease - have increase significantly, rising from sixth in 2011 to second in 2021 for Australian men, and third in 2011 to first in 2021 for Australian women.
Cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer are among the top five causes of death in Bendigo, with prostate cancer and breast cancer next highest for men and women respectively.
Suicide is the ninth most common cause of death for Bendigo men, however does not appear on the top 20 list for women.
In 2021, 88 Bendigo men died from suicide.
According to the data, life expectancy in Bendigo dropped slightly between 2017 and 2021, from 82.9 years to 82.2 years.
The median age for men was 79.7 in 2021 and 84.6 for women.
Premature deaths, which were deaths of people aged under 75, have also risen in Bendigo, from 432 in 2017 to 475 in 2021.
In 2021, there were 197 premature deaths of women, and 278 of men.
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However, according to the data, Australians are living longer than ever before and to very old ages.
Over the past five decades, life expectancy in Australia increased by 13.7 years for males to 81.3 and by 11.2 years for females to 85.4, and there have been more centenarian deaths than ever before.
There were 31 supercentenarian deaths (people aged 110 or older) in the decade since 2012, a huge increase on the decade beginning 1964, when there were two.
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Jonathon Magrath
Jonathon has been living and working in Bendigo since March 2021, currently working as a general reporter. Contact him on jonathon.magrath@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
Jonathon has been living and working in Bendigo since March 2021, currently working as a general reporter. Contact him on jonathon.magrath@austcommunitymedia.com.au.
