Yellowhammer Times

There were 39 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending July 17, a 14.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 1,005 deaths in the state. 22.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4 percent were from cancer and 8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Heart disease	229	292
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	175	204
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	61	42
Cerebrovascular diseases	53	56
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	41	36
Alzheimer's disease	40	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	39	34
Diabetes mellitus	26	17
Influenza and pneumonia	15	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	82