Big Sky Times

There were 25 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Montana during the week ending Jan. 15, a 38.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 15, there were 164 deaths in the state. 24.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.9 percent were from cancer and 31.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 12.2 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 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Heart disease	40	61
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	26	22
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	26	40
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	25	18
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	10	14
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	< 10
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Alzheimer disease and dementia	20	26