Yellowhammer Times

There were 49 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending November 6, a 14 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,101 deaths in the state. 22.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.4 percent were from cancer and 13.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	250	250
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	181	182
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	82	97
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	71	90
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	61	49
Cerebrovascular diseases	60	44
Alzheimer's disease	49	43
Diabetes mellitus	38	26
Influenza and pneumonia	24	12
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	85	89