Yellowhammer Times

There were 28 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending June 12, a 6.7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 12, there were 1,071 deaths in the state. 24.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 5.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8 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 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Heart disease	260	278
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	199	180
Cerebrovascular diseases	67	60
Alzheimer's disease	61	46
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	64
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	31	35
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	30
Diabetes mellitus	23	22
Influenza and pneumonia	18	20
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	94	81