Prairie State Wire

There were 78 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Feb. 12, a 6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 2,073 deaths in the state. 19 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7 percent were from cancer and 31.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.4 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	393	454
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	351	468
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	325	412
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	306	400
Cerebrovascular diseases	103	112
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	86	95
Alzheimer's disease	78	83
Diabetes mellitus	44	70
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	38
Influenza and pneumonia	17	26

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	215	220