Grand Canyon Times

There were 74 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending August 21, a 12.1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 1,479 deaths in the state. 16.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.8 percent were from cancer and 22.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	248	268
Heart disease	241	235
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	173	158
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	164	143
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	74	66
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	63
Alzheimer's disease	54	39
Diabetes mellitus	37	42
Influenza and pneumonia	19	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	113	96