Pelican State News

There were 251 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending August 7, a 85.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 1,065 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.1 percent were from cancer and 48.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.4 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 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	264	144
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	251	135
Heart disease	222	223
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	150	157
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	45	37
Alzheimer's disease	42	34
Cerebrovascular diseases	35	56
Diabetes mellitus	32	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	17
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	68	64