Show-Me State Times

There were 74 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending July 3, a 5.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 1,188 deaths in the state. 22.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8 percent were from cancer and 13.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2 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 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	262	292
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	235	266
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	82	84
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	74	78
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	70	75
Cerebrovascular diseases	63	71
Alzheimer's disease	48	37
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	39	27
Diabetes mellitus	32	30
Influenza and pneumonia	10	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	97	79