Sunshine Sentinel

There were 257 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending August 7, a 23 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending August 7, there were 5,948 deaths in the state. 17.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.3 percent were from cancer and 47.5 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.8 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
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	852	874
Cerebrovascular diseases	301	308
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	257	209
Diabetes mellitus	176	168
Alzheimer's disease	145	144
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	67	58
Influenza and pneumonia	57	67
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	1,357	831
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	1,470	885
Heart disease	1,056	966

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-08-07	Number of Deaths 2021-07-31
Alzheimer disease and dementia	407	367