Evergreen Reporter

There were 74 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending June 24, a 39.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 1,190 deaths in the state. 18.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3% were from cancer and 2.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7% 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	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	254	274
Heart disease	216	199
Alzheimer's disease	74	53
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	55
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	51	43
Diabetes mellitus	26	35
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	17	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	13
Influenza and pneumonia	12	21
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	115	104