Show-Me State Times

There were 262 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending June 26, a 4.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 26, there were 1,284 deaths in the state. 22.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 12.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.2 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 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Heart disease	289	284
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	262	250
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	84	57
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	78	54
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	76	76
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	55
Alzheimer's disease	37	47
Diabetes mellitus	30	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	27	33
Influenza and pneumonia	19	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	92