Show-Me State Times

There were 30 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Missouri during the week ending December 11, a 9.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 1,333 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 29.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Heart disease	277	272
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	248	249
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	201	153
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	187	147
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	53
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	57	68
Alzheimer's disease	47	50
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	32	34
Diabetes mellitus	30	33
Influenza and pneumonia	20	22

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	105	123