Magnolia State News

There were 16 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending November 27, a 42.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 27, there were 676 deaths in the state. 22.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6 percent were from cancer and 10.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 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 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Heart disease	154	153
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	139	110
Cerebrovascular diseases	40	37
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	39	30
Alzheimer's disease	33	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	33	44
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	30	21
Diabetes mellitus	16	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	18
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Alzheimer disease and dementia	54	57