Gem State Wire

There were less than 10 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Idaho during the week ending December 11, a decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 352 deaths in the state. 21 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.1 percent were from cancer and 20.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.5 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	74	57
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	53	59
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	38	61
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	35	51
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	22	20
Alzheimer's disease	16	10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	13
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	37	18