Beaver State News

There were 39 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending September 18, a 18.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 949 deaths in the state. 12.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.8 percent were from cancer and 41.6 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	204	219
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	191	206
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	159	153
Heart disease	119	149
Alzheimer's disease	42	31
Cerebrovascular diseases	39	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	38	40
Diabetes mellitus	32	33
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	82	85