Pelican State News

There were 29 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending October 30, a 19.4 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 804 deaths in the state. 26.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20 percent were from cancer and 12.8 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 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Heart disease	210	178
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	161	141
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	55	61
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	48	57
Alzheimer's disease	40	39
Cerebrovascular diseases	40	49
Diabetes mellitus	29	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	29	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	63	89