Yellowhammer Times

There were 61 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending November 27, a 5.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 27, there were 1,072 deaths in the state. 22.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.8 percent were from cancer and 9.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 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 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Heart disease	244	229
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	191	172
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	66	62
Cerebrovascular diseases	61	58
Alzheimer's disease	55	47
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	53	47
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	41
Diabetes mellitus	24	35
Influenza and pneumonia	23	10
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20
Alzheimer disease and dementia	98	100