Buckeye Reporter

There were 29 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending July 3, a 21.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 2,296 deaths in the state. 21.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5 percent were from cancer and 3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	492	494
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	471	482
Cerebrovascular diseases	130	112
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	128	127
Alzheimer's disease	83	82
Diabetes mellitus	70	71
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	53
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	42
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	37
Influenza and pneumonia	21	22

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	181	180