Pelican State News

There were 12 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending July 31, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 968 deaths in the state. 22.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16 percent were from cancer and 28 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.5 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	218	218
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	155	164
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	140	89
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	131	81
Cerebrovascular diseases	54	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	37	36
Alzheimer's disease	33	40
Diabetes mellitus	31	33
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	14
Influenza and pneumonia	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	63	76