Prairie State Wire

There were 46 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Sept. 17, a 19.3% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 17, there were 2,038 deaths in the state. 21.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21% were from cancer and 6.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6% 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. 17	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10
Heart disease	438	391
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	428	396
Cerebrovascular diseases	114	114
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	78
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	78	77
Alzheimer's disease	67	66
Diabetes mellitus	49	51
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	57
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	35	44
Influenza and pneumonia	32	31

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	196	203