Beaver State News

There were 31 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending September 11, a 32.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 964 deaths in the state. 15.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.4 percent were from cancer and 43.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	217	238
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	205	227
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	148	180
Heart disease	147	132
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	40	27
Diabetes mellitus	33	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	33	45
Alzheimer's disease	31	46
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	83	93