Grand Canyon Times

There were 64 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending September 18, a 1.6 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 1,604 deaths in the state. 17.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 16.8 percent were from cancer and 30.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.4 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Heart disease	274	246
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	270	242
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	254	272
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	236	259
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	64	63
Cerebrovascular diseases	60	51
Alzheimer's disease	55	62
Diabetes mellitus	38	46
Influenza and pneumonia	26	11
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	14

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	142