Bluegrass Times

There were 45 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending May 29, a 45.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 29, there were 959 deaths in the state. 19.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3 percent were from cancer and 10.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6 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 2021-05-29	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	204	187
Heart disease	184	199
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	63	67
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	60	42
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	45	31
Cerebrovascular diseases	43	45
Diabetes mellitus	31	31
Alzheimer's disease	27	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	27
Influenza and pneumonia	11	13

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29	Number of Deaths 2021-05-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	82	96