Pelican State News

There were 25 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Louisiana during the week ending Jan. 15, a 24.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 15, there were 592 deaths in the state. 28.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.4 percent were from cancer and 25.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.1 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 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Heart disease	167	187
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	97	116
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	84	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	67	58
Alzheimer's disease	34	38
Cerebrovascular diseases	32	43
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	25	33
Diabetes mellitus	15	27
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	12	17
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Alzheimer disease and dementia	66	64