Sooner State News

There were 58 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending May 22, a 52.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 22, there were 738 deaths in the state. 23.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.6 percent were from cancer and 4.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.3 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 2021-05-22	Number of Deaths 2021-05-15
Heart disease	171	187
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	145	153
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	38
Diabetes mellitus	35	25
Alzheimer's disease	28	27
Cerebrovascular diseases	26	37
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	19	35
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	13	24
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22	Number of Deaths 2021-05-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	54	45