Great Lakes Wire

There were 84 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending July 10, a 11.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 10, there were 1,886 deaths in the state. 23.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20 percent were from cancer and 2.5 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 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Heart disease	442	449
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	377	377
Cerebrovascular diseases	108	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	84	95
Alzheimer's disease	66	69
Diabetes mellitus	57	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	32
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	30	33
Influenza and pneumonia	23	25
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	18	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03
Alzheimer disease and dementia	145	145