Buckeye Reporter

There were 170 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending Feb. 26, a 45.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 26, there were 1,686 deaths in the state. 17.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.1 percent were from cancer and 22.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 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 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Heart disease	300	482
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	288	353
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	216	360
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	170	311
Cerebrovascular diseases	100	126
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	75	86
Alzheimer's disease	67	93
Diabetes mellitus	66	59
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	34	32
Influenza and pneumonia	21	25

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	154	193