Sunflower State News

There were 32 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Kansas during the week ending June 19, a 23.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 501 deaths in the state. 21.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.2 percent were from cancer and less than 2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Heart disease	107	115
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	91	109
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	32	26
Cerebrovascular diseases	22	25
Diabetes mellitus	16	21
Alzheimer's disease	16	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	11
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	50	38