Beaver State News

There were 40 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oregon during the week ending July 16, 2022, a 11.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 16, 2022, there were 743 deaths in the state. 15.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.7% were from cancer and 11.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6% 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	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	169	154
Heart disease	117	117
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	55	35
Cerebrovascular diseases	45	61
Alzheimer's disease	40	36
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	21
Diabetes mellitus	15	24
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	71	83