Palmetto State News

There were 57 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending June 19, a 21.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 1,067 deaths in the state. 19.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.1 percent were from cancer and 3.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Heart disease	209	203
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	204	185
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	57	47
Cerebrovascular diseases	53	58
Alzheimer's disease	41	42
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	22	25
Diabetes mellitus	18	20
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	16	23
Influenza and pneumonia	13	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	83	93