Buckeye Reporter

There were 461 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending October 30, a 11.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 2,909 deaths in the state. 18.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.4 percent were from cancer and 33.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Heart disease	541	499
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	505	564
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	477	484
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	461	523
Cerebrovascular diseases	132	133
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	121	122
Alzheimer's disease	98	98
Diabetes mellitus	86	71
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	42
Influenza and pneumonia	21	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	228	211