Great Lakes Wire

There were 435 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Jan. 1, a 29.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 1, there were 2,055 deaths in the state. 18.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.7 percent were from cancer and 44.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.3 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 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	479	673
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	435	615
Heart disease	389	468
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	323	369
Cerebrovascular diseases	104	110
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	91	108
Alzheimer's disease	79	87
Diabetes mellitus	52	66
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	27
Influenza and pneumonia	22	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Alzheimer disease and dementia	149	185