Evergreen Reporter

There were 69 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending November 6, a 7.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,390 deaths in the state. 16.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18 percent were from cancer and 21 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	250	270
Heart disease	232	260
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	153	158
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	139	140
Alzheimer's disease	69	64
Cerebrovascular diseases	67	57
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	66	55
Diabetes mellitus	37	45
Influenza and pneumonia	14	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	123	126