Keystone Today

There were 64 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending July 10, a 22.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 2,478 deaths in the state. 21.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20 percent were from cancer and 2.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	522	583
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	495	504
Cerebrovascular diseases	107	121
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	95	115
Diabetes mellitus	64	83
Alzheimer's disease	64	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	63	51
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	38	37
Influenza and pneumonia	35	18
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	218	209