Sunshine Sentinel

There were 842 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending June 5, a 8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 5, there were 4,344 deaths in the state. 19.4 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7 percent were from cancer and 11.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.5 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 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	857	896
Heart disease	842	915
Cerebrovascular diseases	283	266
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	258	236
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	237	206
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	195	201
Diabetes mellitus	133	155
Alzheimer's disease	94	95
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	64	58
Influenza and pneumonia	39	45

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-06-05	Number of Deaths 2021-05-29
Alzheimer disease and dementia	326	352