Garden State Times

There were 39 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending September 25, a 34.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 1,530 deaths in the state. 20.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8 percent were from cancer and 17.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	310	327
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	287	313
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	143	132
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	126	117
Cerebrovascular diseases	74	72
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	46
Alzheimer's disease	42	42
Diabetes mellitus	39	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	32	26
Influenza and pneumonia	23	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	133	118