Madrid/València, (EFE).- Between May and August 2022, 24.5% more people died in the Valencian Community than in the same period of 2019, especially due to chronic risk diseases due to high temperatures, four points above the average increase in the country.
According to the Deaths by Cause of Death Statistics published this Tuesday by the INE, in that period last year in the Valencian Community deaths from hypertensive diseases increased by 65.1%; due to diabetes they increased by 36.5%, and due to senile and presenile disorders they increased by 9%.
In Spain, between May and August of last year, 157,580 people died, 20.5% more than in 2019, mainly due to chronic diseases at risk from high temperatures, which also directly caused more than double the deaths from heat stroke and dehydration. than three years before.
Specifically, between last spring and summer, when the all-time high temperatures were pulverized, there were 122 fatal heat strokes compared to 47 in 2019, representing an increase of 159%, and 233 cases of dehydration, which they rose 113.7% compared to the 109 of the pre-pandemic year.
Thus, both causes caused 355 deaths, 89% more than in 2021, when there were 189, according to the Deaths by Cause of Death Statistics published this Tuesday by the INE.
They confirm the “lethality” of July 2022
Despite the fact that they are provisional data, they confirm the lethality of the month of July of last year, to which the projections of the Daily Mortality Monitoring System (MoMo) of the Carlos III Health Institute pointed, which calculated an excess mortality of more than 20,000 deaths last summer: only that month, and already with real data, deaths increased by 32.8% (10,991 more). The increase was greater in those over 75 years of age.
Almost all of the most frequent natural causes of death and external causes increased, although the highest peaks occurred in previous chronic pathologies considered a risk in situations of high temperatures, points out the INE, which recalls that this period from May to August it was described as extremely warm by the Aemet climate report.
The summer was deadlier in Ceuta, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands
Thus, the greatest increases in mortality occurred in hypertensive diseases, which shot up 36.9% to 4,986; diabetes (31.2%, 3,840 deaths) and senile and presenile disorders (19.8%, 8,019 deaths).
In addition, 12,089 deaths from covid-19 were registered compared to the 6,714 registered in the same period of 2021, although in the annual set it decreased.
Mortality that summer increased in all communities, but much more in Ceuta (37.9%); Canarias (26.8%) and the Balearic Islands (26.1%), followed closely by Murcia (25.9%), Extremadura (25.4%), Comunitat Valenciana (24.5%) and Andalucía (23, 4 %).
By diseases, where deaths from hypertensive pathologies increased the most was Murcia, where they almost doubled (93.9%).
The greatest increase in diabetes occurred in Galicia (116.2%), while that of senile and presenile mental disorders was registered in Andalusia (38.1%).
Circulatory diseases remain the leading cause
In total, 463,133 people died last year, 12,389 more than in 2021 (2.7% more), of which 233,690 were men and 229,443 women, which translates into an increase of 1% and 4.6%. , respectively.
Diseases of the circulatory system were behind 26% of the deaths, with which they remained the leading cause of death with a rate of 252.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, followed by tumors, which represented 24.8% with a rate of 239.8, and respiratory (9.3% and rate of 89.9).
Compared to the previous year, deaths from diseases of the respiratory system increased by 20.9%, those of the circulatory system by 1.2% and those that were the consequence of tumors, by 0.9%.
Although there are differences by sex, since tumors were the leading cause of death in men (with 289.4 deaths per 100,000 men) and the second in women (with 192.1 per 100,000 women), while diseases of the circulatory system were the most lethal for them (261.9 deaths per 100,000) and the second among them (242.1).
Respiratory diseases were the third cause of death in both sexes, 15.6% in men and 28.4% in women.
By communities, the increases in mortality were greater in the Canary Islands (18.5% more than in 2019), the Balearic Islands (16.6%) and Murcia (13.7%); Looking at the group of diseases, deaths from hypertensive increased more in Murcia (75.1%), from diabetes in Galicia (72.3%) and from senile and pre-senile mental disorders in the Basque Country (17.6%).
Mortality from Covid-19 falls by 20%
If compared to the pre-pandemic year, deaths increased by 10.6% to 44,430; By gender, the increase was 9.9% in the case of men and 11.4% among women.
The identified covid-19 virus was the most frequent cause of death in 2022, with 31,559 deaths, a figure that is, however, 20% less than in 2021.
Ischemic heart diseases (with 28,687 deaths, 0.6% less) and cerebrovascular diseases (with 24,558, 1.2% less) were behind.
Among the most frequent diseases, the causes of death that increased the most were pneumonia (28.6%), dementia (10.8%) and chronic diseases of the lower respiratory tract (8.5%).
