Yellowhammer Times

There were 44 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending October 23, a 10.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 1,134 deaths in the state. 20.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16 percent were from cancer and 25.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Heart disease	237	214
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	182	210
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	150	210
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	136	198
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	59	46
Cerebrovascular diseases	56	67
Alzheimer's disease	44	49
Influenza and pneumonia	24	16
Diabetes mellitus	21	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	86	95