Pelican State News

There were 12 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending November 6, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 833 deaths in the state. 24.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.3 percent were from cancer and 9.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	203	217
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	161	165
Cerebrovascular diseases	60	43
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	43	56
Alzheimer's disease	35	40
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	33	49
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	31	29
Diabetes mellitus	28	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	19
Influenza and pneumonia	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	72	64