Great Lakes Wire

There were 444 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending July 24, a 3.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 24, there were 1,861 deaths in the state. 23.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.1 percent were from cancer and 3.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.3 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 2021-07-24	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17
Heart disease	444	462
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	429	405
Cerebrovascular diseases	111	93
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	91	90
Alzheimer's disease	59	69
Diabetes mellitus	47	61
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	33	19
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	13
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	28
Influenza and pneumonia	27	27

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	117	153