Great Lakes Wire

There were 31 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending May 21, 2022, a 11.4% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 21, 2022, there were 1,162 deaths in the state. 23.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.2% were from cancer and 6.4% 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	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 14, 2022
Heart disease	276	332
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	258	321
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	63	74
Cerebrovascular diseases	58	63
Alzheimer's disease	47	55
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	43	52
Diabetes mellitus	33	31
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	29
Influenza and pneumonia	15	16