Constitution State News

There were less than 10 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Connecticut during the week ending July 10, a decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 428 deaths in the state. 22.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.4 percent were from cancer and less than 2.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	97	105
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	70	115
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	31	19
Cerebrovascular diseases	14	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	12
Diabetes mellitus	13	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	24
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	33	62