Prairie State Wire

There were 56 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Illinois during the week ending Nov. 12, a 1.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, there were 2,251 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.3% were from cancer and 5.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8% 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 Nov. 12	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5
Heart disease	472	462
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	434	452
Cerebrovascular diseases	113	133
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	102	98
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	75	82
Diabetes mellitus	69	79
Alzheimer's disease	66	106
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	56	55
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	37
Influenza and pneumonia	35	27

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 12	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	199	239