There were 864 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Texas during the week ending August 7, a 3.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 4,912 deaths in the state. 17.6 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.2 percent were from cancer and 30.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.8 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	864	898
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	845	830
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	787	479
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	730	437
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	212	180
Cerebrovascular diseases	201	219
Alzheimer's disease	178	196
Diabetes mellitus	129	148
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	78	79
Influenza and pneumonia	53	52

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	382	400