Peach Tree Times

There were 82 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Georgia during the week ending August 7, a 12.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 1,837 deaths in the state. 20.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.3 percent were from cancer and 24.6 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 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Heart disease	374	329
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	337	376
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	233	114
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	218	101
Cerebrovascular diseases	95	81
Alzheimer's disease	82	73
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	87
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	44	47
Diabetes mellitus	40	54
Influenza and pneumonia	30	33

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	156	159