Hoosier State Today

There were 80 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Indiana during the week ending May 22, no changes from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 22, there were 1,264 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2 percent were from cancer and 11.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9 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 2021-05-22	Number of Deaths 2021-05-15
Heart disease	263	273
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	255	255
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	80	80
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	72	64
Cerebrovascular diseases	67	61
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	65	66
Diabetes mellitus	47	49
Alzheimer's disease	47	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	24
Influenza and pneumonia	13	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22	Number of Deaths 2021-05-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	125	94