Hawkeye Reporter

There were 30 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending November 20, a 9.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 723 deaths in the state. 23.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.9 percent were from cancer and 28.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	171	148
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	115	110
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	108	91
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	98	81
Cerebrovascular diseases	42	39
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	30	33
Alzheimer's disease	25	29
Diabetes mellitus	18	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	65	82