Buckeye Reporter

There were 587 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending September 25, a 13.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 3,069 deaths in the state. 17.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.5 percent were from cancer and 39.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.6 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	635	568
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	587	518
Heart disease	546	570
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	507	481
Cerebrovascular diseases	135	135
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	121	133
Alzheimer's disease	95	107
Diabetes mellitus	83	90
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	36
Influenza and pneumonia	39	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	202	261