Evergreen Reporter

There were 23 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending Feb. 12, a 30.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 931 deaths in the state. 18.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.8 percent were from cancer and 29.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.4 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	169	209
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	156	200
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	153	201
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	123	157
Alzheimer's disease	58	66
Cerebrovascular diseases	42	55
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	30	55
Diabetes mellitus	23	33
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	106	125