Bluegrass Times

There were 21 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending November 20, a 90.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 20, there were 978 deaths in the state. 21.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 18.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4 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 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Heart disease	213	203
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	182	179
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	99	102
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	85	89
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	65	52
Cerebrovascular diseases	38	44
Diabetes mellitus	26	30
Alzheimer's disease	22	28
Influenza and pneumonia	21	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	20	26

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-20	Number of Deaths 2021-11-13
Alzheimer disease and dementia	92	87