Old North News

There were 13 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending Jan. 15, a 18.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 15, there were 674 deaths in the state. 12.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22 percent were from cancer and 25.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6 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 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	148	151
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	91	88
Heart disease	83	119
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	80	79
Cerebrovascular diseases	48	35
Alzheimer's disease	24	29
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	22	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	18
Diabetes mellitus	13	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Alzheimer disease and dementia	65	65