Hawkeye Reporter

There were 29 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Iowa during the week ending Feb. 12, a 12.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 485 deaths in the state. 20.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2 percent were from cancer and 25.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 14 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	99	135
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	98	96
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	69	134
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	56	113
Alzheimer's disease	29	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	25	33
Cerebrovascular diseases	15	27
Diabetes mellitus	12	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	68	67