Prairie State Wire

There were 422 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending August 7, a 5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 2,099 deaths in the state. 20.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.9 percent were from cancer and 8.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1 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 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	439	420
Heart disease	422	444
Cerebrovascular diseases	116	107
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	94	85
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	92	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	85	66
Alzheimer's disease	69	59
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	55
Diabetes mellitus	39	52
Influenza and pneumonia	23	24

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	170	175