Great Lakes Wire

There were 452 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Jan. 22, a 14.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 2,250 deaths in the state. 20.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.7 percent were from cancer and 42.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	512	599
Heart disease	465	546
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	452	529
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	330	394
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	105	96
Cerebrovascular diseases	98	113
Alzheimer's disease	82	88
Diabetes mellitus	64	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	33
Influenza and pneumonia	18	31

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	171	187