Prairie State Wire

There were 107 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending July 23, a 50.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, there were 2,090 deaths in the state. 20.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8% were from cancer and 7.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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 23	Deaths in Week Ending July 16
Heart disease	425	415
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	413	420
Cerebrovascular diseases	120	112
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	107	71
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	92	89
Alzheimer's disease	62	69
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	62	64
Diabetes mellitus	59	58
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	54	44
Influenza and pneumonia	38	31

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23	Deaths in Week Ending July 16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	173	174