It’s been circulating in the media for a few days the cause of death of the Queen: “old age”. She was 96 years old.
“Old age” is an interesting cause of death. Being old is not a disease from which one dies. The Queen did not die “at” the age of 96, but “at” the age of 96. But since we do not live forever, at least not before a death certificate is issued, the earthly end of all people is inevitable and if death does not occur as a result of a diagnosed illness or an external cause such as an accident, “old age” is at least for very old people actually a very reasonable statement.
However, this cause is hardly coded in the cause of death statistics. That was not always so. A good 100 years ago, “senility” definitely had a relevant share in the documented causes of death. In Bavaria, for example, it was 1892 in about 9% of deaths “senility” given as the cause of death. Even today, this cause of death can be coded under the ICD digit R54, senility. In 2020, this was still on the death certificate for 2,237 people in Germany, in 0.23% of all deaths. Even in the 90+ age group, i.e. Queen age, it was only 0.77%. But the cause of death was also given for 14 people in the age group 70-75 – although that is “no age” these days.
The trend continues to decrease, although we are getting older and many people are getting older much healthier than before. But at the same time, the doctors, who are diagnostically versed, find it easier and easier to find an illness that can be entered on the death certificate. It seems as if today everything that leads to death is considered a disease and therefore medically treatable. Instead of “senility” it was, for example, cardiac arrest. In the end, the heart stops. That will probably also have been the case with the Queen.