Golden State Today

There were 216 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending June 17, a 4.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 17, there were 5,289 deaths in the state. 21.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3% were from cancer and 1.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1% 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	Deaths in Week Ending June 17	Deaths in Week Ending June 10
Cerebrovascular diseases	326	330
Alzheimer's disease	275	246
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	216	206
Diabetes mellitus	193	191
Influenza and pneumonia	85	106
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	82	88
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	61	68
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	42	46
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,124	1,199
Heart disease	1,144	1,125

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 17	Deaths in Week Ending June 10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	479	462