Hoosier State Today

There were 53 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Indiana during the week ending Feb. 26, a 29.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 26, there were 958 deaths in the state. 21.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8 percent were from cancer and 22 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.3 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 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Heart disease	202	218
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	180	199
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	116	228
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	95	195
Cerebrovascular diseases	63	54
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	75
Diabetes mellitus	25	28
Alzheimer's disease	24	44
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	24
Influenza and pneumonia	13	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	99	122