Hawkeye Reporter

There were 41 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending Jan. 15, a 7.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 15, there were 658 deaths in the state. 19.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7 percent were from cancer and 37.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Heart disease	131	184
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	130	125
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	118	114
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	103	119
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	38
Cerebrovascular diseases	28	22
Diabetes mellitus	24	17
Alzheimer's disease	20	25
Influenza and pneumonia	13	12
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Alzheimer disease and dementia	61	50