Great Lakes Wire

There were 55 deaths from Alzheimer's disease reported in Michigan in the week ending Sept. 17, making up 3.9% of total deaths by all causes in Michigan, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 17, there were 1,411 deaths in the state. 24.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 23.5% were from cancer and 8.6% were from COVID-19.

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	% of Total Deaths
Heart disease	344	24.4
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	331	23.5
Cerebrovascular diseases	94	6.7
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	5.2
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	70	5
Alzheimer's disease	55	3.9
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	48	3.4
Diabetes mellitus	34	2.4
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	2.2
Influenza and pneumonia	11	0.8