Yellowhammer Times

There were 204 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending Jan. 1, a 9.7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 1, there were 870 deaths in the state. 23.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.4 percent were from cancer and 11.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2 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 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Heart disease	204	226
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	143	143
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	69	49
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	57	62
Alzheimer's disease	55	46
Cerebrovascular diseases	52	48
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	45	55
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	21
Influenza and pneumonia	18	20
Diabetes mellitus	14	22

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Alzheimer disease and dementia	80	80