The Sconi

There were 232 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending August 14, a 9.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 14, there were 1,050 deaths in the state. 22.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.5 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 2021-08-14	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07
Heart disease	232	212
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	214	208
Alzheimer's disease	50	47
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	46	33
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	44	48
Cerebrovascular diseases	37	34
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	18
Diabetes mellitus	23	27
Influenza and pneumonia	18	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	26

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07
Alzheimer disease and dementia	110	114