Peach Tree Times

There were 40 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Georgia during the week ending July 17, a 42.9 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 17, there were 1,547 deaths in the state. 22.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.4 percent were from cancer and 5.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 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 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Heart disease	347	376
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	331	338
Cerebrovascular diseases	90	92
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	80
Alzheimer's disease	74	70
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	48	38
Diabetes mellitus	43	42
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	40	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	39	42
Influenza and pneumonia	22	23

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-17	Number of Deaths 2021-07-10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	131	135