Hawkeye Reporter

There were 83 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Iowa during the week ending November 6, a 4.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 627 deaths in the state. 22.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5 percent were from cancer and 25.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	141	183
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	110	142
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	83	87
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	75	78
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	33	24
Alzheimer's disease	22	31
Diabetes mellitus	20	19
Cerebrovascular diseases	20	22
Influenza and pneumonia	10	10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	62	67