Grand Canyon Times

There were 46 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending May 1, a 31.4 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 1, there were 1,263 deaths in the state. 20.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.9 percent were from cancer and 7.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.7 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 2021-05-01	Number of Deaths 2021-04-24
Heart disease	255	217
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	226	258
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	67	52
Alzheimer's disease	57	43
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	54	39
Diabetes mellitus	51	50
Cerebrovascular diseases	51	54
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	46	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	20
Influenza and pneumonia	12	20

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-05-01	Number of Deaths 2021-04-24
Alzheimer disease and dementia	110	96