Evergreen Reporter

There were 244 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending November 20, a 12.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 1,302 deaths in the state. 20.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.7 percent were from cancer and 19.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	267	212
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	244	278
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	134	157
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	125	145
Alzheimer's disease	72	76
Cerebrovascular diseases	62	69
Diabetes mellitus	44	41
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	47
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	121	145