Volunteer State News

There were 83 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending August 21, a 4.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 21, there were 1,903 deaths in the state. 17.3 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 37.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.9 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 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	360	297
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	352	286
Heart disease	329	349
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	284	258
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	87
Cerebrovascular diseases	78	81
Alzheimer's disease	66	58
Diabetes mellitus	56	54
Influenza and pneumonia	20	27
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	17

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-21	Number of Deaths 2021-08-14
Alzheimer disease and dementia	150	119