Hawkeye Reporter

There were 35 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending September 18, a 12.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 646 deaths in the state. 23.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.1 percent were from cancer and 27.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Heart disease	149	159
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	117	123
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	93	72
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	87	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	35	31
Alzheimer's disease	23	20
Cerebrovascular diseases	23	28
Diabetes mellitus	17	24
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	49	55