Show-Me State Times

There were 72 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending November 27, a 18 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 27, there were 1,345 deaths in the state. 22 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.2 percent were from cancer and 19.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Heart disease	296	314
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	245	261
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	133	115
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	125	109
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	73	61
Cerebrovascular diseases	72	61
Alzheimer's disease	47	46
Diabetes mellitus	45	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	37
Influenza and pneumonia	21	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	101