Big Sky Times

There were 13 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Montana during the week ending July 31, a 18.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 248 deaths in the state. 22.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8 percent were from cancer and 12.1 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	56	44
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	49	41
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	17	13
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	13	11
Alzheimer's disease	10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	10	12
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	26	16