Great Lakes Wire

There were 146 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Michigan during the week ending June 5, a 21.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 1,925 deaths in the state. 22.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7 percent were from cancer and 14.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Heart disease	431	474
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	379	359
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	146	186
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	127	162
Alzheimer's disease	92	80
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	76
Cerebrovascular diseases	92	94
Diabetes mellitus	55	48
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	35
Influenza and pneumonia	16	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	165	170