Bluegrass Times

There were 25 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending July 17, a 4.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 904 deaths in the state. 21.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.2 percent were from cancer and 6.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	201	204
Heart disease	195	197
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	64	62
Cerebrovascular diseases	42	45
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	33	29
Diabetes mellitus	25	27
Alzheimer's disease	25	19
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	25	24
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	30
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	70	71