Great Lakes Wire

There were 473 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 4.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,969 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 8.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9% 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	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Heart disease	473	452
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	405	395
Cerebrovascular diseases	124	114
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	97	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	95	85
Alzheimer's disease	80	70
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	66	56
Diabetes mellitus	62	53
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	28	41
Influenza and pneumonia	15	16

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	155	147