Deaths among people who were homeless in King County that were investigated by the Medical Examiner's office more than doubled in the past five years, according to a new report.

The report (see summary below) says that in 2018 the office investigated 194 deaths – the most ever. That's up from 169 in 2017 and 87 in 2014.

Of the deaths, 73 were attributed to natural causes. That's 38 percent of all deaths.

"The highest causes of death for people who are homeless are exactly the same as the highest causes of death in the general population, so things like heart disease, cancer, all the typical chronic diseases that people have,” said John Gilvar, a manager with the county's Health Care for the Homeless.

“What's different is homelessness works against people in lots of various, insidious ways to create barriers to recovering from life-threatening illnesses or avoiding infectious diseases or stabilizing chronic conditions that can lead to complications that are either debilitating or life threatening.”

The second-leading cause of death was drug overdose – 63 deaths.