Aloha State News

There were 11 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Hawaii during the week ending October 30, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 30, there were 231 deaths in the state. 19.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.9 percent were from cancer and 10 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.4 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 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Heart disease	45	38
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	39	64
Cerebrovascular diseases	15	22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	13	16
Diabetes mellitus	11	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	11	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	10	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23
Alzheimer disease and dementia	24	19