Yellowhammer Times

There were 32 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending September 11, a 52.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 1,674 deaths in the state. 18.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 10.8 percent were from cancer and 62.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.4 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	529	486
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	513	465
Heart disease	313	287
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	181	180
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	58
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	66	50
Alzheimer's disease	48	41
Influenza and pneumonia	32	21
Diabetes mellitus	28	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	31

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	90	78