Sunshine Sentinel

There were 164 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Jan. 29, a 10.9 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 29, there were 3,601 deaths in the state. 17.7 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.8 percent were from cancer and 42 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1 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 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	799	1,047
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	715	946
Heart disease	639	889
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	568	713
Cerebrovascular diseases	208	305
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	164	184
Alzheimer's disease	106	116
Diabetes mellitus	84	142
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	59	64
Influenza and pneumonia	36	52

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-29	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22
Alzheimer disease and dementia	293	363