Pelican State News

There were 41 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending November 20, a 6.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 783 deaths in the state. 22.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.7 percent were from cancer and 8.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	179	194
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	170	165
Cerebrovascular diseases	44	47
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	44
Alzheimer's disease	36	38
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	35	36
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	33	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	18
Diabetes mellitus	20	33
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	72	80