Bluegrass Times

There were 33 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending May 8, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 8, there were 918 deaths in the state. 20.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8 percent were from cancer and 9.3 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-05-08	Number of Deaths 2021-05-01
Heart disease	190	239
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	182	183
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	60	63
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	49	39
Cerebrovascular diseases	38	40
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	30
Alzheimer's disease	33	31
Diabetes mellitus	22	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	18
Influenza and pneumonia	12	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-08	Number of Deaths 2021-05-01
Alzheimer disease and dementia	87	82