Maryland State Wire

There were 31 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Maryland during the week ending July 10, a 27.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 879 deaths in the state. 23.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6 percent were from cancer and less than 1.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	205	214
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	181	239
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	35
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	31	43
Diabetes mellitus	26	20
Alzheimer's disease	21	20
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	14
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	64