Great Lakes Wire

There were 31 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Feb. 26, a 8.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 26, there were 1,340 deaths in the state. 23.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5 percent were from cancer and 19.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.3 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 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Heart disease	320	404
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	275	299
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	152	233
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	115	184
Cerebrovascular diseases	62	92
Alzheimer's disease	61	61
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	57	65
Diabetes mellitus	31	34
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	36
Influenza and pneumonia	10	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-26	Number of Deaths 2022-02-19
Alzheimer disease and dementia	124	124