Great Lakes Wire

There were 97 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending August 21, a 11.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 2,021 deaths in the state. 23.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19 percent were from cancer and 10.3 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Heart disease	466	469
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	384	398
Cerebrovascular diseases	118	92
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	109	83
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	99	66
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	97	87
Alzheimer's disease	74	69
Diabetes mellitus	54	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	29
Influenza and pneumonia	25	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	155	143