Yellowhammer Times

There were 233 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending October 9, a 31.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 1,297 deaths in the state. 23 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 36.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.9 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 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Heart disease	298	257
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	245	356
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	233	342
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	193	202
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	64	62
Cerebrovascular diseases	61	60
Alzheimer's disease	50	42
Diabetes mellitus	29	29
Influenza and pneumonia	19	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	89	96