Yellowhammer Times

There were 94 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending July 31, a 67.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,117 deaths in the state. 22.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17 percent were from cancer and 17.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	249	250
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	190	187
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	100	62
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	94	56
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	54	72
Alzheimer's disease	51	44
Cerebrovascular diseases	49	41
Diabetes mellitus	27	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	27
Influenza and pneumonia	16	15

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	101	79