Great Lakes Wire

There were 68 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending June 19, a 26.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 19, there were 1,852 deaths in the state. 21.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2 percent were from cancer and 8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Heart disease	398	467
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	374	405
Cerebrovascular diseases	105	110
Alzheimer's disease	82	64
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	82	88
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	81	106
Diabetes mellitus	73	59
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	68	92
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	36
Influenza and pneumonia	26	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19	Number of Deaths 2021-06-12
Alzheimer disease and dementia	158	137