Bluegrass Times

There were 37 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending July 24, a 48 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 24, there were 918 deaths in the state. 21.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.1 percent were from cancer and 8.9 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 2021-07-24	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17
Heart disease	195	202
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	166	202
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	65
Cerebrovascular diseases	47	43
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	45	33
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	37	25
Alzheimer's disease	33	26
Diabetes mellitus	31	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	20
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	87	72