Pelican State News

There were 22 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending July 10, no changes from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 813 deaths in the state. 27.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.1 percent were from cancer and 5.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.9 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	223	204
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	180	152
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	33
Cerebrovascular diseases	39	49
Alzheimer's disease	36	30
Diabetes mellitus	28	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	19
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	23	25
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	22	22
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	56	68