Sunshine Sentinel

There were 231 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending September 25, a 17.3 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending September 25, there were 5,814 deaths in the state. 16.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.5 percent were from cancer and 51.1 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.4 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 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Heart disease	943	942
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	843	915
Cerebrovascular diseases	291	340
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	231	197
Diabetes mellitus	164	146
Alzheimer's disease	129	148
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	77	75
Influenza and pneumonia	60	62
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	1,438	1,771
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	1,535	1,903

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-09-25	Number of Deaths 2021-09-18
Alzheimer disease and dementia	374	390