Prairie State Wire

There were 76 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Jan. 29, a 32.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 2,612 deaths in the state. 16 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.1 percent were from cancer and 46.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	646	898
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	573	802
Heart disease	417	508
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	395	440
Cerebrovascular diseases	127	132
Alzheimer's disease	103	101
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	76	112
Diabetes mellitus	50	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	59
Influenza and pneumonia	30	38

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	230	253