10 | New Scientist | 17 August 2019
DEMENTIA has cemented its
position as the leading cause
of death in England and Wales,
according to the latest figures
from the Office for National
Statistics (ONS). But part of therise in the dementia toll can be
explained by changes in how
deaths are recorded. In fact, more
people currently die from cancers
than they do from dementia.
The number of deaths due to
Alzheimer’s disease and other
forms of dementia has been
increasing for several years, now
accounting for nearly 13 per cent
of all deaths registered in 2018.
But part of the explanation for this
apparent rise lies in two changes
made by the ONS, in 2011 and 2014,
to the way it categorises deaths.
Dementia tends to be a
contributory factor to deaths,
rather than the immediate cause.
For instance, those affected may
die after falling over and breaking
a bone, or develop pneumoniabecause they have a reduced
ability to swallow, which lets
bacteria enter their lungs. Due to
the ONS changes, any such cases
where dementia is mentioned
on the death certificate are now
being attributed to dementia.
In addition, family doctors have,
for some years, been encouraged
to record a diagnosis of dementia
at an earlier stage. “It’s not so
much that more people are getting
dementia, we are recognising it
more,” says Emma Vardy of the
British Geriatrics Society.
Another factor in the ONS figure
is that there are multiple forms ofdementia, including Alzheimer’s
disease and vascular dementia.
However, the ONS groups deaths
from these conditions together.
Cancer, on the other hand, is split
into different categories. If these
had been grouped together, cancer
would have topped the list of
causes of death. According to
Cancer Research UK, 28 per cent of
deaths in 2016 were due to cancer.
However, aside from the way
deaths are categorised by the ONS,we do also know that dementia is
rising in incidence. This is because
we are, on average, living longer,
thanks in part to better medical
care. Put crudely, many people
who may have once died from a
heart attack in their 70s now die
from dementia in their 80s.
Our ageing population often
prompts talk of an impending
dementia “tsunami”. But recent
studies show that an individual’s
risk of developing dementia by a
certain age has been gradually
declining for many decades.
Frustratingly, we don’t know
why this is happening. It could be
down to falls in smoking, better
nutrition or even the fact we lead
more mentally stimulating lives.
Because of the unknowns, it is
unclear if this trend will continue,
but it is worth treating predictions
that huge numbers of people will
have dementia with scepticism.
What isn’t in doubt, though,
is that families of people with
dementia need more help – for
example home care packages. If
the renewed attention brought to
this condition by the latest figures
helps address such problems, then
that will be no bad thing. ❚News More online: Defying dementia
Simple ways to slow cognitive decline
newscientist.com/defying-dementia
An MRI scan reveals brain
shrinkage in someone
with alcoholic dementiaDUCANEMEDICAL
IMAGINGLTD/SCIENC
E^ PHOTO
LIBRA
RY“Canon has now patched
the issue, but it is thought
vulnerabilities might exist
with other cameras”Analysis MortalityClare WilsonNo matter what the statistics say,
dementia isn’t the UK’s biggest killer
CybersecurityHackers may be able
to get into cameras
and steal imagesDIGITAL cameras with built-in Wi-Fi
let people quickly send images to
other devices. But a vulnerability
could leave them open to hackers.
Eyal Itkin at Israel-based
cybersecurity firm Check Point
found that the system cameras
use to transfer information, called
the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP),
could be exploited.
An external device, such as alaptop, uses PTP to ask the camera
for pictures and other information
such as battery level. The camera
responds by transferring the
requested information.
Itkin found that by sending
specific requests to a camera,
he could completely take it over.
The hack can occur via two
routes. An attacker can place a fake
public Wi-Fi access point in a public
location and then take control of
any camera that connects to it.
Alternatively, the same thing can
happen to any camera that is
plugged into a computer thatan attacker already has control
of or has infected with malware.
Itkin demonstrated the
vulnerability on a Canon EOS
digital-SLR camera. Canon has
now patched the issue, but Itkin
says similar approaches could
work with other cameras.
The worry is that someone
could use the technique to install
ransomware. This is a type ofprogram that encrypts the contents
of a device so that the owner can’t
access them. The attacker then
demands a payment for returning
the device to its original status.
“Infected cameras could also
send all of their photos back to
the attacker,” says Itkin.
He says owners of Wi-Fi-enabled
cameras can protect their images
by making sure their camera is fully
updated with the latest firmware,
turning the Wi-Fi function off when
it isn’t required and not connecting
to public Wi-Fi networks. ❚
Donna Lu13%
of deaths in England and Wales
were blamed on dementia in 2018