Volunteer State News

There were 17 deaths with COVID-19 listed as a contributing cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending June 24, a 54.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 1,475 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5% 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	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Heart disease	324	307
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	287	299
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	76
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	77	84
Alzheimer's disease	62	52
Diabetes mellitus	37	44
Influenza and pneumonia	25	19
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	32
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	17	11
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	12	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	126	137