Minnesota State Wire

There were 169 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending October 23, a 3.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 1,002 deaths in the state. 16.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5 percent were from cancer and 22.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.1 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	215	191
Heart disease	169	163
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	120	127
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	109	114
Alzheimer's disease	55	32
Cerebrovascular diseases	48	45
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	41	32
Diabetes mellitus	20	31
Influenza and pneumonia	11	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	111	99