Buckeye Reporter

There were 529 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Ohio during the week ending Jan. 29, a 40 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 2,000 deaths in the state. 15.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.4 percent were from cancer and 49.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	529	881
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	464	793
Heart disease	311	523
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	267	391
Cerebrovascular diseases	92	138
Alzheimer's disease	80	83
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	78	133
Diabetes mellitus	43	72
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	47
Influenza and pneumonia	23	29

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	165	197