Great Lakes Wire

There were 134 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending September 4, a 36.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 2,063 deaths in the state. 24 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.4 percent were from cancer and 13.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Heart disease	495	454
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	401	423
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	150	108
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	134	98
Cerebrovascular diseases	106	99
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	97
Alzheimer's disease	63	66
Diabetes mellitus	59	67
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	41	16
Influenza and pneumonia	27	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	144	150