Evergreen Reporter

There were 53 deaths from chronic lower respiratory diseases reported in the state of Washington in the week ending July 16, making up 6.2% of total deaths by all causes in the state of Washington, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 16, there were 860 deaths in the state. 19.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.2% were from cancer and 9.3% 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
Heart disease	169	19.7
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	165	19.2
Alzheimer's disease	58	6.7
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	6.2
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	49	5.7
Cerebrovascular diseases	42	4.9
Diabetes mellitus	31	3.6
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	3.6
Influenza and pneumonia	10	1.2
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 1.2