Great Lakes Wire

There were 530 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Dec. 18, a 23.1 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 18, there were 2,039 deaths in the state. 19.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13 percent were from cancer and 54 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6 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 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	572	751
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	530	689
Heart disease	394	519
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	265	422
Alzheimer's disease	91	90
Cerebrovascular diseases	87	121
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	110
Diabetes mellitus	52	53
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	27	33
Influenza and pneumonia	22	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	176	197