Last Frontier News

There were less than 10 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Alaska during the week ending Feb. 12, an increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 49 deaths in the state. Less than 20.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 24.5 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	12	< 10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	10	12
Diabetes mellitus	< 10	0
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	< 10
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	< 10	< 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
Heart disease	< 10	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	0	< 10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	0	< 10