Hoosier State Today

There were 75 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending August 7, a 5.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 1,265 deaths in the state. 21.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.4 percent were from cancer and 10.8 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 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Heart disease	271	273
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	246	279
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	75	71
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	63	38
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	52
Alzheimer's disease	43	48
Diabetes mellitus	42	49
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	27
Influenza and pneumonia	12	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	109	125