Hawkeye Reporter

There were 15 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Iowa during the week ending July 31, a 7.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 524 deaths in the state. 24.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2 percent were from cancer and 5.7 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	129	140
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	106	107
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	30	34
Cerebrovascular diseases	22	21
Diabetes mellitus	19	21
Alzheimer's disease	17	23
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	< 10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	15	14
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	43	51