Buckeye Reporter

There were 606 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending December 11, a 0.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 2,683 deaths in the state. 17.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.4 percent were from cancer and 46.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.4 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	642	640
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	606	604
Heart disease	468	595
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	386	459
Cerebrovascular diseases	128	160
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	107	122
Alzheimer's disease	86	107
Diabetes mellitus	58	79
Influenza and pneumonia	39	19
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	43

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	199	224