Silver State Times

There were 19 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Nevada during the week ending October 16, a 72.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 16, there were 651 deaths in the state. 18.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.4 percent were from cancer and 36.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.8 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 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Heart disease	120	132
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	118	136
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	117	132
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	100	94
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	30	30
Cerebrovascular diseases	29	22
Alzheimer's disease	19	11
Diabetes mellitus	11	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Alzheimer disease and dementia	38	33