Buckeye Reporter

There were 202 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Ohio during the week ending August 21, a 54.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 2,482 deaths in the state. 19 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5 percent were from cancer and 15.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	509	496
Heart disease	471	555
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	202	131
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	180	121
Cerebrovascular diseases	123	115
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	122	104
Alzheimer's disease	90	82
Diabetes mellitus	65	74
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	35	40
Influenza and pneumonia	23	36

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	203	186