Hawkeye Reporter

There were 14 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Iowa during the week ending July 17, a 16.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 550 deaths in the state. 22.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22 percent were from cancer and 4.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Heart disease	125	149
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	121	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	27	26
Cerebrovascular diseases	23	29
Diabetes mellitus	22	14
Alzheimer's disease	15	13
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	14	12
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	11	11
Influenza and pneumonia	10	10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	47	38