Bluegrass Times

There were 179 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending October 23, a 29.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 23, there were 1,036 deaths in the state. 18.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.6 percent were from cancer and 37.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.2 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 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	213	282
Heart disease	191	199
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	179	253
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	172	182
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	62	75
Cerebrovascular diseases	39	52
Diabetes mellitus	33	25
Alzheimer's disease	27	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	17	21
Influenza and pneumonia	15	18

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-23	Number of Deaths 2021-10-16
Alzheimer disease and dementia	75	85