Sooner State News

There were 73 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending November 6, a 26.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 812 deaths in the state. 23.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.9 percent were from cancer and 20.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.9 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	191	170
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	137	132
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	91	113
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	73	99
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	60
Cerebrovascular diseases	30	37
Diabetes mellitus	26	25
Alzheimer's disease	23	35
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	48	68