Hoosier State Today

There were 71 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending September 18, a 2.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 1,584 deaths in the state. 17 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.3 percent were from cancer and 38.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.5 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	319	306
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	292	285
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	274	269
Heart disease	269	270
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	96	82
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	69
Alzheimer's disease	51	45
Diabetes mellitus	50	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	33
Influenza and pneumonia	13	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	102