The Sconi

There were 35 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending August 21, a 30 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 1,132 deaths in the state. 20.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.3 percent were from cancer and 11 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Heart disease	229	237
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	219	214
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	51	28
Cerebrovascular diseases	46	37
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	44
Alzheimer's disease	35	50
Diabetes mellitus	31	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	18

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	110