Prairie State Wire

There were 74 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending May 7, a 18.7% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 7, there were 1,593 deaths in the state. 22.1% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.8% were from cancer and 4.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10% 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 May 7	Deaths in Week Ending April 30
Heart disease	352	395
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	332	371
Cerebrovascular diseases	93	110
Alzheimer's disease	74	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	74	91
Diabetes mellitus	48	57
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	46	38
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	45	55
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	17
Influenza and pneumonia	20	30

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending May 7	Deaths in Week Ending April 30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	159	173