Roundup: Number of Australians suffering from dementia to double by 2050: research

The number of Australians who suffer from dementia is expected to more than double to 1 million by 2050, according to researchers from the University of Canberra on Tuesday.

There are currently around 380,000 sufferers of the condition in Australia, but a longer life expectancy and an ageing population could result in one in 25 Australians developing the disease by 2050.

The University of Canberra's Professor Laurie Brown from the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling said the results were a wake-up call for policymakers, but added the research would help government bodies to develop and organize prevention and treatment strategies before it becomes too much of an issue.

"The scale of the situation we see with these projections is probably enough to shock people into action, but that's not why we developed this demographic projection," Brown told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Tuesday.

"Ensuring decision makers and service providers have advance notice ensures that we are on the best path to providing care for the people who will need it."

She added that Australia's ageing baby boomer population would also result in an increase of dementia sufferers in Australia.

"What we need to do is look at population projections, so how is the Australian population going to grow, and as most people know, we're aging," Brown said.

"Then we have to have information about the prevalence of dementia within the population, and particularly about key risk factors."

The study by the University of Canberra coincides with figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Tuesday, which revealed dementia was fast becoming a leading killer in Australia.

"There were close to 12,000 deaths from dementia in 2014, compared with 8,200 deaths in 2009. Dementia became Australia's second leading cause of death in 2013, surpassing strokes," ABS Director of the Health and Vital Statistics Section James Eynstone-Hinkins said on Friday.

He added that Australia's ageing population and increased life expectancy was resulting in a rise of more "natural" causes of death, or causes of death normally associated with getting old.

"Changes in the leading causes of death over time provide an insight into the effects of population ageing, increased life expectancy, lifestyle factors and advancements in medical treatments," Eynstone-Hinkins said.

Heart disease remains the leading killer in Australia, followed by dementia, stroke, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases, however for younger Australians (aged 18-44), the leading cause of death is suicide, followed by accidental poisonings.

The ABS said the patterns of mortality causes were naturally going to differ between age groups. Endit