Reported deaths from Alzheimer’s disease have increased by 54 percent since 2001, making it the fifth-leading cause of death in Hamilton County, behind heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease and stroke, local health department data shows.
The statistic is one of many details found in a comprehensive assessment of health in Hamilton County, presented to local officials Thursday at the Hamilton County Commission meeting.
The report, which is compiled every four years by health officials in cooperation with the area’s Regional Health Council, concluded that areas such as addiction, infant mortality, obesity and the need for health care reform should be among the top priorities for health advocates in coming years.
PDF: Hamilton County Health Outlook
“It helps us guide our efforts for targeted prevention and improving health care and then, hopefully, influence public policy,” Becky Barnes, administrator for the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, told the commissioners.