Hoosier State Today

There were 129 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending Feb. 5, a 23.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 866 deaths in the state. 18.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 42.8 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2022-02-05	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	201	309
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	170	271
Heart disease	164	209
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	129	168
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	69
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	58
Diabetes mellitus	31	40
Alzheimer's disease	24	45
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	27
Influenza and pneumonia	11	15