5 states where the Alzheimer’s death rate soared

Americans continue to have a 100 percent ultimate mortality rate, but they are reaching the final outcome a little more slowly.

The managers of the National Vital Statistics System, an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have published a new statistical picture of the slowdown in the final 2013 mortality data report. A comparison with the 2012 report shows that the overall U.S. age-adjusted death rate fell to 731.9 per 100,000 in 2013, from 732.8 per 100,000 in 2012.

The overall age-adjusted national death rate from a condition of keen interest to the long-term care insurance (LTCI) and long-term care (LTC) planning communities — Alzheimer’s disease — fell 1 percent, to 23.5 percent.

A few years ago, the age-adjusted Alzheimer’s mortality rate was rising.

Alzheimer’s also contributed to the suffering of many people listed as dying from other conditions, such as heart disease and cancer.

See also: CDC: U.S. Death Rate Falls, Alzheimer’s Hits Harder and Alzheimer’s, Chronic Lung Disease Hit Harder.

We came up with a table showing how each state’s age-adjusted Alzheimer’s death rate changed between 2012 and 2013.

We computed the percentage increase — the difference between the old and new rates, divided by the old rates — rather than the percentage point increase, to try to get a sense of whether states were doing considerably better or worse when compared with their own performance.

In many cases, the year-to-year changes may reflect random chance or problems with recordkeeping, such as changes in how officials classify the cause of death, but, in some cases, where there’s smoke, it’s possible that there could be fire.

5. Arizona: 6% increase

2013 age-adjusted Alzheimer’s mortality rate: 31.7%.

2012 age-adjusted Alzheimer’s mortality rate: 30.0%.

See also: People with Alzheimer’s test brain pacemakers

4. Missouri: 6% increase

2013 age-adjusted Alzheimer’s mortality rate: 27.5%.