Great Lakes Wire

There were 464 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending June 12, a 5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 12, there were 1,947 deaths in the state. 23.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.7 percent were from cancer and 10.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7 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 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Heart disease	464	442
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	404	380
Cerebrovascular diseases	110	93
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	105	148
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	91	129
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	88	93
Alzheimer's disease	63	92
Diabetes mellitus	57	56
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	36	38
Influenza and pneumonia	17	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	136	165