Hoosier State Today

There were 57 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending October 9, a 21.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 1,496 deaths in the state. 18.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.1 percent were from cancer and 33.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	285	256
Heart disease	278	284
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	262	292
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	239	275
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	95	79
Diabetes mellitus	57	47
Cerebrovascular diseases	48	72
Alzheimer's disease	36	34
Influenza and pneumonia	18	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	115	119