Minnesota State Wire

There were 44 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Minnesota during the week ending Jan. 22, a 26.7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 966 deaths in the state. 17.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6 percent were from cancer and 34.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10 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 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	199	227
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	180	176
Heart disease	167	190
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	154	145
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	50
Alzheimer's disease	44	60
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	36	44
Diabetes mellitus	28	34
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	15
Influenza and pneumonia	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	97	125