Prairie State Wire

There were 71 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Aug. 6, a 1.4% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 6, there were 2,149 deaths in the state. 20.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and 8.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.9% 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 Aug. 6	Deaths in Week Ending July 30
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	461	432
Heart disease	441	458
Cerebrovascular diseases	118	120
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	99	82
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	89
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	75	55
Alzheimer's disease	71	70
Diabetes mellitus	63	59
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	55	46
Influenza and pneumonia	32	37

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6	Deaths in Week Ending July 30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	191	180