Bluegrass Times

There were 16 deaths with nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending December 4, a 27.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 4, there were 919 deaths in the state. 20.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6 percent were from cancer and 26.2 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1 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 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Heart disease	191	197
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	189	189
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	129	120
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	112	107
Cerebrovascular diseases	46	38
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	61
Alzheimer's disease	28	27
Diabetes mellitus	26	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	22
Influenza and pneumonia	15	< 10

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04	Number of Deaths 2021-11-27
Alzheimer disease and dementia	84	77