First State Times

There were 11 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Delaware during the week ending September 25, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 233 deaths in the state. 21 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 26.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.4 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	49	36
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	43	40
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	32	38
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	30	36
Cerebrovascular diseases	27	14
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	15	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	11	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	0	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	15	12