Bluegrass Times

There were 29 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending June 5, a 7.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 846 deaths in the state. 21 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.6 percent were from cancer and 8.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	191	204
Heart disease	178	184
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	47	63
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	60
Alzheimer's disease	29	27
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	29	45
Diabetes mellitus	25	31
Cerebrovascular diseases	21	43
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	20
Influenza and pneumonia	11	11

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	84	82