Bluegrass Times

There were 20 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending July 31, a 37.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 31, there were 932 deaths in the state. 24.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.1 percent were from cancer and 13.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.2 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 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Heart disease	230	204
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	169	170
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	67	45
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	59	37
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	52	68
Cerebrovascular diseases	44	47
Alzheimer's disease	34	33
Diabetes mellitus	20	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	13	17
Influenza and pneumonia	11	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31	Number of Deaths 2021-07-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	86	88