Hawkeye Reporter

There were 30 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending September 11, a 14.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 665 deaths in the state. 23.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 20.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Heart disease	157	122
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	123	118
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	71	76
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	64	70
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	30	35
Cerebrovascular diseases	28	25
Diabetes mellitus	24	16
Alzheimer's disease	20	28
Influenza and pneumonia	10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	55	57