Maryland State Wire

There were 28 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Maryland during the week ending September 11, a 15.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 1,063 deaths in the state. 19.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5 percent were from cancer and 20 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Heart disease	204	242
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	186	220
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	112	89
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	101	82
Cerebrovascular diseases	82	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	34	42
Diabetes mellitus	28	33
Alzheimer's disease	17	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	77	93