Buckeye Reporter

There were 45 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending July 31, a 25 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 2,305 deaths in the state. 20.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4 percent were from cancer and 4.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	466	490
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	423	464
Cerebrovascular diseases	133	115
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	131	127
Alzheimer's disease	88	82
Diabetes mellitus	77	75
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	57	48
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	45	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	41
Influenza and pneumonia	29	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	176	168