Pine State News

There were 12 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Maine during the week ending August 14, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 14, there were 318 deaths in the state. 24.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8 percent were from cancer and less than 3.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.1 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 2021-08-14	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07
Heart disease	77	59
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	63	47
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	26	17
Alzheimer's disease	12	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	12	11
Diabetes mellitus	11	14
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07
Alzheimer disease and dementia	32	30