Silver State Times

There were 32 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Nevada during the week ending November 20, a 10.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 630 deaths in the state. 18.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.3 percent were from cancer and 28.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.4 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	116	128
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	109	93
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	93	106
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	86	99
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	32	29
Cerebrovascular diseases	20	31
Diabetes mellitus	15	10
Influenza and pneumonia	10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	22

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	34	42