Grand Canyon Times

There were 68 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending Jan. 29, a 11.5 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 1,630 deaths in the state. 16.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.6 percent were from cancer and 48.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	412	443
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	378	396
Heart disease	262	274
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	222	205
Cerebrovascular diseases	73	74
Alzheimer's disease	68	61
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	59	84
Diabetes mellitus	43	54
Influenza and pneumonia	17	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	10	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	155	140