Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause and respiratory disease is the second leading cause of death in Middlesex-London.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause and respiratory diseases is the second leading cause of hospitalizations and deaths in Middlesex-London. For deaths related to cardiovascular disease, a strong downward trend was observed between 2000 and 2011. For cardiovascular-related hospitalizations and for respiratory-related hospitalizations and deaths there was less consistent change over time. In general there was a lower burden of both respiratory and cardiovascular disease in Middlesex-London compared to the Peer Group and the province as a whole. Males had higher rates than females and there was a steady and significant increase in rates as age increased.
While these trends are fairly consistent among the chronic conditions studied, asthma and diabetes are different. Asthma is different than other respiratory diseases in that the greatest burden of disease was in the younger age groups. Unlike other chronic conditions, rates of hospitalizations for diabetes in Middlesex-London were similar to, and not lower than, the provincial rate. Diabetes-related hospitalization rates have increased over time.
Cancer incidence rates increased significantly between 1988 and 2007 whereas cancer mortality rates decreased significantly over the same time period. Seniors and males were at the highest risk for developing cancer but the rate of death from cancer was similar across genders. The leading type of incident cancer cases in females was breast cancer and in males was prostate cancer; however the leading type of cancer death in both sexes was lung cancer. This indicates that although fewer people got lung cancer, a higher proportion of those with lung cancer died compared to other cancers. Estimates up to 2012 show that people in Middlesex-London had similar breast and cervical cancer screening rates when compared to Ontario, whereas the screening rate for colorectal cancer was higher in Middlesex-London compared to the province in general.