Hoosier State Today

There were 256 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending December 4, a 28 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 1,480 deaths in the state. 18.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5 percent were from cancer and 35.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	274	224
Heart disease	271	291
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	259	237
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	256	200
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	85	87
Diabetes mellitus	67	44
Cerebrovascular diseases	50	70
Alzheimer's disease	33	47
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	33
Influenza and pneumonia	17	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	106	147