Hawkeye Reporter

There were 10 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending August 28, a 44.4 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 645 deaths in the state. 21.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5 percent were from cancer and 15.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.8 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	139	135
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	126	128
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	52	48
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	42
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	38	31
Cerebrovascular diseases	30	13
Alzheimer's disease	22	34
Diabetes mellitus	10	18
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	63	65