Show-Me State Times

There were 36 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending July 10, a 12.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 1,291 deaths in the state. 21.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20 percent were from cancer and 14.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	276	271
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	258	236
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	99	82
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	90	74
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	89	70
Cerebrovascular diseases	75	63
Alzheimer's disease	43	48
Diabetes mellitus	36	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	39
Influenza and pneumonia	10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	98	97