Palmetto State News

There were 45 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending October 9, a 15.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 1,323 deaths in the state. 14.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.6 percent were from cancer and 47.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.3 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	327	231
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	300	217
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	207	126
Heart disease	188	154
Cerebrovascular diseases	55	30
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	32
Alzheimer's disease	45	39
Diabetes mellitus	34	27
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	97	73