Minnesota State Wire

There were 189 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending July 17, a 10 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 822 deaths in the state. 18.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23 percent were from cancer and 1.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.7 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	189	210
Heart disease	149	137
Alzheimer's disease	45	46
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	40	23
Cerebrovascular diseases	39	34
Diabetes mellitus	31	39
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	13	12
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	96	110