Palmetto State News

There were 34 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending November 6, a 25.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 806 deaths in the state. 17.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.5 percent were from cancer and 18 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	139	174
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	125	160
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	78	109
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	67	98
Cerebrovascular diseases	46	47
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	35	37
Diabetes mellitus	34	27
Alzheimer's disease	25	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	61	70