Centennial State News

There were 29 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Colorado during the week ending September 11, a 9.4 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 905 deaths in the state. 15 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.9 percent were from cancer and 20.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.4 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	162	147
Heart disease	136	141
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	96	104
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	88	97
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	44	46
Cerebrovascular diseases	37	30
Alzheimer's disease	29	32
Diabetes mellitus	23	23
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	76	74