Great Lakes Wire

There were 26 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Michigan during the week ending June 24, a 136.4% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 1,814 deaths in the state. 24.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2% were from cancer and 2.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5% 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 June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Heart disease	452	494
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	367	406
Cerebrovascular diseases	107	97
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	87	94
Alzheimer's disease	82	67
Diabetes mellitus	63	57
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	34
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	26	11
Influenza and pneumonia	19	23
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	13	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	154	143