Great Lakes Wire

There were 25 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending July 3, a 4.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 1,842 deaths in the state. 24.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4 percent were from cancer and 2.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	444	461
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	376	382
Cerebrovascular diseases	101	94
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	93	92
Alzheimer's disease	69	77
Diabetes mellitus	54	59
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	33	53
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	32	38
Influenza and pneumonia	25	24
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	20	41

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	143	145