There were 149 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Texas during the week ending December 11, a 23.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending December 11, there were 3,862 deaths in the state. 18.9 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6 percent were from cancer and 19.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.9 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 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Heart disease	729	864
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	717	767
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	391	410
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	358	365
Cerebrovascular diseases	183	207
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	170	162
Alzheimer's disease	149	194
Diabetes mellitus	105	121
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	75	78
Influenza and pneumonia	61	59

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-12-11	Number of Deaths 2021-12-04
Alzheimer disease and dementia	343	400