Hoosier State Today

There were 289 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending December 11, a 6.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 1,531 deaths in the state. 18.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4 percent were from cancer and 42.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	339	274
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	308	256
Heart disease	289	271
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	266	259
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	85
Cerebrovascular diseases	81	50
Alzheimer's disease	43	33
Diabetes mellitus	40	67
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	22
Influenza and pneumonia	12	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	125	106