Sooner State News

There were 19 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending March 19, 2022, a 32.1% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 19, 2022, there were 552 deaths in the state. 27% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.3% were from cancer and 9.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8% 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 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Heart disease	149	146
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	101	94
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	42
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	31	42
Cerebrovascular diseases	23	26
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	22	29
Diabetes mellitus	21	16
Alzheimer's disease	19	28
Influenza and pneumonia	10	13
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 12, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	43	64