Yellowhammer Times

There were less than 10 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending December 4, a decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 1,124 deaths in the state. 24.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4 percent were from cancer and 10.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.4 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Heart disease	279	253
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	196	195
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	64	52
Cerebrovascular diseases	63	62
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	55	45
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	69
Alzheimer's disease	51	56
Diabetes mellitus	26	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	17
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	94	101