Magnolia State News

There were 36 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending December 4, a 10 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 658 deaths in the state. 22.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.8 percent were from cancer and 8.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Heart disease	148	158
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	104	140
Alzheimer's disease	38	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	38	33
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	40
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	32	40
Diabetes mellitus	30	17
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	24	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	11
Influenza and pneumonia	14	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	60	56