The Sconi

There were 60 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending October 16, a 71.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 16, there were 1,265 deaths in the state. 18.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4 percent were from cancer and 24.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4 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 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	233	221
Heart disease	230	256
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	173	176
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	137	120
Alzheimer's disease	60	35
Cerebrovascular diseases	52	52
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	43	47
Diabetes mellitus	26	44
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	15
Influenza and pneumonia	12	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	99