Rushmore State News

There were 14 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Dakota during the week ending Feb. 12, a 12.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 56 deaths in the state. 25 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.2 percent were from cancer and 21.4 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	14	16
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	13	32
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	12	12
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	0	< 10