Great Lakes Wire

There were 22 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending July 31, a 24.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 1,825 deaths in the state. 24.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23 percent were from cancer and 2.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.4 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	455	445
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	419	429
Cerebrovascular diseases	105	111
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	91
Alzheimer's disease	75	59
Diabetes mellitus	48	47
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	31	33
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	28
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	22	29
Influenza and pneumonia	12	27

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	135	117