Magnolia State News

There were 35 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending July 3, a 16.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 596 deaths in the state. 25.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3 percent were from cancer and 3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	151	156
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	127	130
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	26
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	35	30
Alzheimer's disease	30	29
Diabetes mellitus	19	18
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	18	18
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	17
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	43	48