Great Lakes Wire

There were 40 deaths with nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending October 23, a 17.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 2,317 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18 percent were from cancer and 29 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 5.7 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Heart disease	483	465
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	417	404
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	348	294
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	323	267
Cerebrovascular diseases	101	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	97	93
Diabetes mellitus	67	63
Alzheimer's disease	67	91
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	40	34
Influenza and pneumonia	33	25

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	133	167