Buckeye Reporter

There were 76 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending June 5, a 10.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 2,348 deaths in the state. 21.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.9 percent were from cancer and 7.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Heart disease	505	495
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	443	474
Cerebrovascular diseases	148	122
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	109	129
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	96	108
Alzheimer's disease	76	73
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	76	85
Diabetes mellitus	62	85
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	44
Influenza and pneumonia	23	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	191	175