Keystone Today

There were 62 deaths with nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending September 25, a 5.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 2,894 deaths in the state. 19.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.9 percent were from cancer and 24.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	561	585
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	519	545
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	360	310
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	337	288
Cerebrovascular diseases	134	122
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	88	94
Diabetes mellitus	71	57
Alzheimer's disease	66	83
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	59
Influenza and pneumonia	39	41

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	204	248