Evergreen Reporter

There were 257 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending August 28, a 0.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 1,388 deaths in the state. 17.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 26.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	257	259
Heart disease	241	223
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	190	155
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	179	136
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	55
Alzheimer's disease	54	63
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	36
Diabetes mellitus	33	37
Influenza and pneumonia	15	15
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	105	123