Buckeye Reporter

There were 107 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending July 10, a 17.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 2,309 deaths in the state. 20.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.3 percent were from cancer and 2.9 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	476	494
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	468	474
Cerebrovascular diseases	109	130
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	107	129
Alzheimer's disease	87	84
Diabetes mellitus	73	70
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	38	40
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	39
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	29
Influenza and pneumonia	22	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	186	182