Keystone Today

There were 54 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending March 12, a 18.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 1,935 deaths in the state. 25% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.6% were from cancer and 8.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	484	523
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	379	417
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	91	171
Cerebrovascular diseases	85	89
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	83
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	76	130
Diabetes mellitus	54	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	50
Alzheimer's disease	48	83
Influenza and pneumonia	16	28

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	168	232