Magnolia State News

There were 44 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending July 10, a 22.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 636 deaths in the state. 22 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.9 percent were from cancer and 5.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.8 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	140	152
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	120	130
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	44	36
Cerebrovascular diseases	32	37
Diabetes mellitus	27	19
Alzheimer's disease	20	30
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	20	18
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	13
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	37	43