Sooner State News

There were 28 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending July 23, 2022, a 3.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, 2022, there were 716 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.1% were from cancer and 9.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2% 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 July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Heart disease	172	200
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	151	147
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	41
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	33	68
Alzheimer's disease	32	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	27
Cerebrovascular diseases	21	30
Diabetes mellitus	18	34
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	59	68