Palmetto State News

There were 49 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending November 27, a 4.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 27, there were 1,080 deaths in the state. 17.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15 percent were from cancer and 15 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6 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 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Heart disease	185	199
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	162	166
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	86	81
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	76	74
Cerebrovascular diseases	55	50
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	47
Alzheimer's disease	44	33
Diabetes mellitus	38	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	16
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Alzheimer disease and dementia	104	70