Show-Me State Times

There were 214 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending July 31, a 16.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,400 deaths in the state. 19.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 31 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.1 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	274	303
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	260	251
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	220	195
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	214	183
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	80	76
Alzheimer's disease	52	53
Cerebrovascular diseases	49	62
Diabetes mellitus	43	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	35
Influenza and pneumonia	22	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	100	98