Volunteer State News

There were 31 deaths with influenza and pneumonia listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending September 4, a 72.2 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 4, there were 2,216 deaths in the state. 16.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 12.2 percent were from cancer and 53.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.9 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 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	614	501
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	579	478
Heart disease	372	357
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	271	291
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	81	73
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	77
Alzheimer's disease	67	60
Diabetes mellitus	57	51
Influenza and pneumonia	31	18
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	23	28

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-04	Number of Deaths 2021-08-28
Alzheimer disease and dementia	153	148