Yellowhammer Times

There were 28 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending June 26, a 75 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 26, there were 1,037 deaths in the state. 26.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.4 percent were from cancer and 6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.7 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 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Heart disease	272	259
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	160	214
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	52
Cerebrovascular diseases	62	63
Diabetes mellitus	34	27
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	34	23
Alzheimer's disease	28	34
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	16
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	32
Influenza and pneumonia	16	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	69	73