Beaver State News

There were 34 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending October 23, a 10.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 901 deaths in the state. 14.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.2 percent were from cancer and 27.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.2 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	164	166
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	135	120
Heart disease	132	153
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	115	105
Cerebrovascular diseases	60	52
Alzheimer's disease	47	35
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	34	38
Diabetes mellitus	27	23
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	101	85