Silver State Times

There were 96 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Nevada during the week ending December 4, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 657 deaths in the state. 18 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.6 percent were from cancer and 28.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.5 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Heart disease	118	110
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	96	95
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	96	92
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	94	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	38	28
Cerebrovascular diseases	35	30
Alzheimer's disease	21	14
Diabetes mellitus	16	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	14	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	43	37