Mortality statistics from Israel’s Health Ministry that was released Sunday reported good news and bad news for Israeli residents.  Cancer has still remained the main cause of death in Israel over the past two years according to the data, with heart disease in second place.

But in the period from 2008 to 2010, the mortality rate from heart disease, chronic lower respiratory system diseases and accidents dropped at least 25 percent from those ten years earlier, the period from 1991 to 2001.

At the same time, there has been a significant increase in the mortality rate from pneumonia and the influenza virus — and a more than 40 percent increase in deaths due to Alzheimer’s disease.

An in depth look at the statistics shows that the older one becomes, the more likely it is that one’s heart will fail before anything else.

The most recent data showed that heart disease was the number one cause of death for Israelis over age 75 in the period from 2005 to 2007, according to the Department of Health Information statistics at the Health Ministry. At just ten years younger, ages 65 to 74, cancer remains the leading cause of death, the data indicate.

Diabetes mellitus is the third highest cause of death in the 65 to 74 age group. But at age 75, cerebrovascular diseases become the third highest killer. Diabetes after age 75 is the fourth highest cause of death.

A unique statistic was that regarding the mortality of the Arab population worldwide — both men and women — from diabetes, whose rates of death due to the disease were more than double that of Jews.