Yellowhammer Times

There were 55 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending June 5, a 5.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 1,009 deaths in the state. 26.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.5 percent were from cancer and 6.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Heart disease	267	258
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	177	205
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	52
Cerebrovascular diseases	55	52
Alzheimer's disease	46	59
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	35	32
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	30	24
Influenza and pneumonia	20	16
Diabetes mellitus	19	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	18

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	81	95