Big Sky Times

There were 18 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Montana during the week ending August 28, a 20 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 262 deaths in the state. 22.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 34 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	60	58
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	46	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	43	43
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	39	32
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	18	15
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	11