Great Lakes Wire

There were 36 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Feb. 12, a 41 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 1,515 deaths in the state. 21.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.5 percent were from cancer and 27.6 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	320	494
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	281	340
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	230	431
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	188	368
Cerebrovascular diseases	93	108
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	75	83
Alzheimer's disease	60	77
Diabetes mellitus	36	61
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	33
Influenza and pneumonia	25	35

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	111	161