Pelican State News

There were 29 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending June 19, a 25.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 829 deaths in the state. 26.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.8 percent were from cancer and 3.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.5 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Heart disease	216	220
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	181	142
Cerebrovascular diseases	40	55
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	38
Diabetes mellitus	32	43
Alzheimer's disease	29	39
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	24
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	18	29
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	13	27
Influenza and pneumonia	11	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	62	66