COVID-19 Indirectly Killed More Older Adults Than Thought, Especially Those Dealing With Dementia

A letter published in the Journal of the American Medical Association said indirect deaths from COVID-19 among the older American population are much higher than previously assumed — and many fatalities have been of people suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, reports Quartz . Between March 1 and Aug. 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted 225,530 excess deaths than previous years' averages, while deaths attributed to COVID-19 barely surpassed 150,500. The two leading causes of non-COVID-attributed deaths were heart disease and dementia, and the authors suspect the spike in dementia-related deaths stemmed from disrupted access to care. Because of the pandemic, nursing communities struggled with staffing and adequate protection for employees, while a tense atmosphere could elevate the risk of resident deaths. Routine checkups were suspended or performed via phone or computer, while limits to visitation may have contributed since loneliness correlates with higher risk of developing dementia in healthy adults. Another possible contributor is institutionalized racism, as black and Hispanic U.S. populations are more likely to develop dementia than whites and tend to receive later diagnoses. With a pandemic added to the mix, "the disparities are just magnified 10 times," laments Miguel Rentería at Columbia University Medical Center.