Yellowhammer Times

There were 17 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending Dec. 18, a 6.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 18, there were 813 deaths in the state. 26 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.2 percent were from cancer and 12.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2 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 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
Heart disease	211	252
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	140	175
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	54	49
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	48	46
Alzheimer's disease	46	43
Cerebrovascular diseases	43	52
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	69
Diabetes mellitus	22	28
Influenza and pneumonia	17	16
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	12	25

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	67	94