Pelican State News

There were 27 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending June 12, a 15.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 12, there were 831 deaths in the state. 26.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.5 percent were from cancer and 6.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Heart disease	219	209
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	137	179
Cerebrovascular diseases	55	48
Diabetes mellitus	43	35
Alzheimer's disease	39	40
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	38	36
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	29	37
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	27	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	18
Influenza and pneumonia	10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	65	73