Prairie State Wire

There were 42 deaths from diabetes mellitus reported in Illinois in the week ending Sept. 24, making up 2.5% of total deaths by all causes in Illinois, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, there were 1,709 deaths in the state. 20.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.5% were from cancer and 5.6% were from COVID-19.

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	% of Total Deaths
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	402	23.5
Heart disease	356	20.8
Cerebrovascular diseases	99	5.8
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	4.7
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	58	3.4
Alzheimer's disease	53	3.1
Diabetes mellitus	42	2.5
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	38	2.2
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	34	2
Influenza and pneumonia	26	1.5