Sunshine Sentinel

There were 199 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending September 18, a 5.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 18, there were 6,253 deaths in the state. 15 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.6 percent were from cancer and 58.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.2 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 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Heart disease	941	973
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	913	910
Cerebrovascular diseases	340	320
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	199	210
Alzheimer's disease	148	135
Diabetes mellitus	144	183
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	74	65
Influenza and pneumonia	61	74
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	1,761	2,191
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	1,892	2,343

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18	Number of Deaths 2021-09-11
Alzheimer disease and dementia	390	382