Great Lakes Wire

There were 388 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending September 11, a 3.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 11, there were 2,059 deaths in the state. 22 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.8 percent were from cancer and 15 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.6 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 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Heart disease	452	498
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	388	402
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	162	152
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	147	136
Cerebrovascular diseases	110	107
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	100	93
Diabetes mellitus	60	59
Alzheimer's disease	57	63
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	41
Influenza and pneumonia	26	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	135	144