Hawkeye Reporter

There were 23 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending September 25, no changes from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 699 deaths in the state. 21 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 26.2 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	147	150
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	129	118
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	97	94
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	86	88
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	37
Cerebrovascular diseases	32	23
Diabetes mellitus	25	17
Alzheimer's disease	23	23
Influenza and pneumonia	10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	57	49