Magnolia State News

There were 22 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending October 23, a 38.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 713 deaths in the state. 22.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16 percent were from cancer and 21.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.3 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Heart disease	161	141
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	114	121
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	82	85
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	74	77
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	34	33
Diabetes mellitus	26	18
Alzheimer's disease	23	36
Cerebrovascular diseases	22	36
Influenza and pneumonia	19	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	45	57