Hoosier State Today

There were 35 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending June 19, a 20.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 1,308 deaths in the state. 20.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.8 percent were from cancer and 6.3 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	285	289
Heart disease	269	234
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	79	71
Cerebrovascular diseases	63	57
Diabetes mellitus	53	51
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	47	55
Alzheimer's disease	41	34
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	35	44
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	21
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	113	104