Old North News

There were 32 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending August 7, a 8.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 805 deaths in the state. 15.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4 percent were from cancer and 30.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	148	116
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	129	99
Heart disease	126	101
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	120	92
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	27
Alzheimer's disease	32	35
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	21	17
Diabetes mellitus	18	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	58	69