Deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's disease in Scotland have risen by almost a fifth in a year, official figures show.

There were 6549 deaths from the diseases in 2017, up 17.6% on the year before, according to the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The number of deaths has more than doubled in the last decade, with a near fourfold increase in deaths caused specifically by Alzheimer's since 2010.

This rise means dementia and Alzheimer's are the second leading cause of death in the country, accounting for 11.3% of them, behind ischaemic heart disease on 11.6%.

Lung cancer was the third most common cause, accounting for 7% of deaths, although cancers all grouped together accounted for more than 16,000 (28%) of the total.

NRS said a change of methodology meant slightly more dementia deaths had been recorded along with fewer deaths recorded as caused by respiratory diseases.

However, it noted deaths from dementia and Alzheimer's were already on the rise and highlighted the challenge of Scotland's ageing population.

The statistics revealed there were 5022 more deaths than births registered in Scotland last year, more than double the difference in 2016.

Anne Slater, the Acting Registrar General for Scotland, said: "With a growing and ageing population, it may be expected that the number of deaths will increase.

"The age-standardised death rate adjusts for changes to the population structure and has had a greater decrease over time than the number of deaths.

"However, there has been no improvement in the age-standardised death rate in the last three years, suggesting that we may be reaching a turning point, or a plateau in the long-term downward trend in mortality."