Yellowhammer Times

There were 75 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending August 21, a 23 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 1,505 deaths in the state. 19.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 12.8 percent were from cancer and 52.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.1 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	406	334
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	390	318
Heart disease	300	274
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	193	218
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	75	61
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	70
Alzheimer's disease	47	50
Diabetes mellitus	29	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	19
Influenza and pneumonia	19	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	92	88