Silver State Times

There were 24 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Nevada during the week ending June 5, a 60 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 539 deaths in the state. 21.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6 percent were from cancer and 8.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Heart disease	116	143
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	95	93
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	28	19
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	24	15
Cerebrovascular diseases	21	19
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	21	11
Alzheimer's disease	18	10
Diabetes mellitus	12	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	46	30