Hawkeye Reporter

There were 14 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending October 16, a 51.7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 16, there were 637 deaths in the state. 21 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19 percent were from cancer and 32 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.3 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 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Heart disease	134	148
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	121	126
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	106	115
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	98	101
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	32	29
Alzheimer's disease	21	26
Cerebrovascular diseases	20	28
Diabetes mellitus	14	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Alzheimer disease and dementia	40	57