Rushmore State News

There were less than 10 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Dakota during the week ending September 4, a decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 188 deaths in the state. 18.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.6 percent were from cancer and 28.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.9 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Heart disease	35	25
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	33	41
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	27	13
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	26	11
Cerebrovascular diseases	10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	12
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	11	15