Sooner State News

There were 50 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Oklahoma during the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, a 7.4% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, there were 786 deaths in the state. 26% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.3% were from cancer and 5.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7% 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 Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Heart disease	204	213
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	144	152
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	50	54
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	32	32
Alzheimer's disease	30	21
Cerebrovascular diseases	30	33
Diabetes mellitus	19	29
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	14	21
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	13
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	68	52