Grand Canyon Times

There were 31 deaths with diabetes mellitus listed as the underlying cause reported in Arizona during the week ending Feb. 5, a 27.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 5, there were 1,114 deaths in the state. 17.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 12.7 percent were from cancer and 49.9 percent were from COVID-19.

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 2022-02-05	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	292	412
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	264	378
Heart disease	195	262
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	141	222
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	53	59
Alzheimer's disease	42	68
Cerebrovascular diseases	35	73
Diabetes mellitus	31	43
Influenza and pneumonia	17	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	11	10