Keystone Today

There were 653 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending December 11, a 1.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 3,381 deaths in the state. 19.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.5 percent were from cancer and 41.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	740	706
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	676	650
Heart disease	653	661
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	524	513
Cerebrovascular diseases	136	131
Diabetes mellitus	103	76
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	97	116
Alzheimer's disease	94	104
Influenza and pneumonia	57	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	54	58

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	259	274