Beaver State News

There were 24 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending Jan. 22, a 42.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 575 deaths in the state. 16.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8 percent were from cancer and 31.1 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 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	108	136
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	95	76
Heart disease	94	138
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	84	68
Cerebrovascular diseases	34	58
Diabetes mellitus	24	37
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	24	42
Alzheimer's disease	21	31
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	48	70