Cornhusker State News

There were 15 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Nebraska during the week ending Jan. 1, a 37.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 1, there were 241 deaths in the state. 20.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4 percent were from cancer and 33.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Heart disease	49	75
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	42	53
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	41	58
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	39	52
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	15	24
Cerebrovascular diseases	10	14
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Alzheimer disease and dementia	20	45