Bluegrass Times

There were 32 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending Dec. 18, a 37.3 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Dec. 18, there were 425 deaths in the state. 20.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4 percent were from cancer and 29.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8 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 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
Heart disease	89	161
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	78	149
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	68	111
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	57	106
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	32	51
Cerebrovascular diseases	15	35
Diabetes mellitus	10	19
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	14
Alzheimer's disease	< 10	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-18	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	34	58