Yellowhammer Times

There were 46 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending October 16, a 28.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 16, there were 1,214 deaths in the state. 17.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.1 percent were from cancer and 33.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Heart disease	212	302
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	208	193
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	207	249
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	195	237
Cerebrovascular diseases	67	62
Alzheimer's disease	49	50
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	46	64
Diabetes mellitus	29	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	18
Influenza and pneumonia	16	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09
Alzheimer disease and dementia	95	91