Buckeye Reporter

There were 104 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending May 8, a 5.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 8, there were 2,364 deaths in the state. 20.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.7 percent were from cancer and 10 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.5 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 2021-05-08	Number of Deaths 2021-05-01
Heart disease	485	512
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	442	473
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	127	138
Cerebrovascular diseases	125	124
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	110	120
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	104	110
Alzheimer's disease	89	84
Diabetes mellitus	71	84
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	36
Influenza and pneumonia	20	25

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-08	Number of Deaths 2021-05-01
Alzheimer disease and dementia	178	192