Great Lakes Wire

There were 80 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Michigan during the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, a 2.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, there were 2,084 deaths in the state. 25.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.9% were from cancer and 9.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.5% 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 Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Heart disease	532	511
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	415	415
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	128	116
Cerebrovascular diseases	110	87
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	102	121
Alzheimer's disease	80	78
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	76	67
Diabetes mellitus	55	69
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	42	38
Influenza and pneumonia	26	29

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	156	165