Great Lakes Wire

There were 53 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Michigan during the week ending June 26, a 34.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 26, there were 1,895 deaths in the state. 24.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.1 percent were from cancer and 5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Heart disease	458	400
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	380	374
Cerebrovascular diseases	95	106
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	82
Alzheimer's disease	77	82
Diabetes mellitus	59	72
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	53	81
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	41	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	38	37
Influenza and pneumonia	24	26

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26	Number of Deaths 2021-06-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	145	158