Sooner State News

There were 26 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending March 12, a 23.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 566 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7% were from cancer and 12.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.2% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	136	148
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	89	96
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	41	95
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	40	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	78
Alzheimer's disease	26	21
Cerebrovascular diseases	25	23
Influenza and pneumonia	12	13
Diabetes mellitus	12	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	58	41