Enchantment State News

There were 13 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New Mexico during the week ending October 9, a 27.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 421 deaths in the state. 17.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.3 percent were from cancer and 30.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.9 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Heart disease	72	70
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	67	64
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	62	61
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	56	60
Diabetes mellitus	17	16
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	15	21
Alzheimer's disease	13	15
Cerebrovascular diseases	13	18
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	25	29