From my perception of death statistics for old people; it's diseases and cancer that may be said to kill, but it's lack of blood flow to the brain that kills.
I've read some pretty disturbing examples of how some people have their bowels rot due to the blood flow in the artery (arteries?) becoming restricted or even blocked from supplying the bowels the same way arteries in the heart are but it's not as apparent as it is for the heart.
