Great Lakes Wire

There were 21 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending August 28, a 16 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 1,962 deaths in the state. 23.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.6 percent were from cancer and 10.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	453	470
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	423	386
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	107	109
Cerebrovascular diseases	99	118
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	98	99
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	97	97
Diabetes mellitus	67	54
Alzheimer's disease	66	74
Influenza and pneumonia	21	25
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	40

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	150	155