Prairie State Wire

There were 378 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Sept. 10, a 15.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 10, there were 1,944 deaths in the state. 19.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.3% were from cancer and 6.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.3% 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 Sept. 10	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	394	424
Heart disease	378	446
Cerebrovascular diseases	113	134
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	78	95
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	77	78
Alzheimer's disease	65	69
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	57	55
Diabetes mellitus	50	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	57
Influenza and pneumonia	31	31

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3
Alzheimer disease and dementia	201	171