Old North News

There were 55 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending June 24, a 1.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 2,010 deaths in the state. 18.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.1% were from cancer and 1.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.4% 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	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	465	436
Heart disease	379	368
Cerebrovascular diseases	116	96
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	94	76
Alzheimer's disease	85	87
Diabetes mellitus	55	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	33
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	18	25
Influenza and pneumonia	15	17
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	11	15

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	210	200