The Sconi

There were 212 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending August 7, a 11.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 1,063 deaths in the state. 19.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5 percent were from cancer and 4.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.6 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 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Heart disease	212	239
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	207	211
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	47	53
Alzheimer's disease	46	51
Cerebrovascular diseases	33	56
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	33	22
Diabetes mellitus	27	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	20
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	18	12
Influenza and pneumonia	11	12

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	113	104