Great Lakes Wire

There were 187 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending September 25, a 0.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 2,045 deaths in the state. 22 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 19.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	449	460
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	381	451
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	206	215
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	187	188
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	88	90
Cerebrovascular diseases	81	87
Alzheimer's disease	76	80
Diabetes mellitus	57	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	37
Influenza and pneumonia	21	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	169	172