Grand Canyon Times

There were 66 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending August 28, a 7 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 28, there were 1,571 deaths in the state. 17.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.6 percent were from cancer and 25.5 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 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Heart disease	271	242
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	245	249
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	205	173
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	195	164
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	71
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	60	74
Alzheimer's disease	54	55
Diabetes mellitus	41	37
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	15
Influenza and pneumonia	13	19

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	114