Buckeye Reporter

There were 514 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending September 18, a 32.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 3,074 deaths in the state. 18.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.6 percent were from cancer and 35.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	564	414
Heart disease	560	544
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	514	389
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	481	451
Cerebrovascular diseases	135	131
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	132	113
Alzheimer's disease	107	75
Diabetes mellitus	89	76
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	36	51
Influenza and pneumonia	28	33

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	261	195