Keystone Today

There were 61 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending August 28, a 6.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 2,671 deaths in the state. 19.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.2 percent were from cancer and 13.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	524	579
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	513	546
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	192	128
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	178	112
Cerebrovascular diseases	119	114
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	100	103
Alzheimer's disease	79	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	60
Diabetes mellitus	61	65
Influenza and pneumonia	36	34

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	226	215