Evergreen Reporter

There were less than 10 deaths from nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis reported in the state of Washington in the week ending June 18, making up less than 1.2% of total deaths by all causes in the state of Washington, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 18, there were 859 deaths in the state. 21.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.8% were from cancer and 6.9% were from COVID-19.

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	% of Total Deaths
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	196	22.8
Heart disease	186	21.7
Alzheimer's disease	59	6.9
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	5.9
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	40	4.7
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	37	4.3
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	22	2.6
Diabetes mellitus	20	2.3
Influenza and pneumonia	13	1.5
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 1.2