Bluegrass Times

There were 37 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending November 6, a 8.8 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 1,001 deaths in the state. 20.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18 percent were from cancer and 24.9 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 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	205	192
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	180	174
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	135	154
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	114	138
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	55	50
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	60
Alzheimer's disease	37	34
Diabetes mellitus	27	25
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	21
Influenza and pneumonia	12	10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	95	77