Great Lakes Wire

There were 422 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending December 11, a 4.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 2,737 deaths in the state. 19 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.4 percent were from cancer and 52.6 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	751	726
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	689	674
Heart disease	519	509
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	422	403
Cerebrovascular diseases	121	111
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	110	109
Alzheimer's disease	90	106
Diabetes mellitus	53	77
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	46
Influenza and pneumonia	28	30

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	197	202