Hoosier State Today

There were 77 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending July 10, a 2.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 1,257 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5 percent were from cancer and 5.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	261	244
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	258	253
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	77	79
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	69
Alzheimer's disease	40	37
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	37	31
Diabetes mellitus	31	39
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	20
Influenza and pneumonia	15	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	109	108