The Sconi

There were 45 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Wisconsin during the week ending November 6, a 8.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,302 deaths in the state. 20.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5 percent were from cancer and 22.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	262	258
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	254	219
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	160	165
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	128	131
Cerebrovascular diseases	50	56
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	47	50
Alzheimer's disease	45	49
Diabetes mellitus	37	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	17
Influenza and pneumonia	11	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	126	124