Sunshine Sentinel

There were 585 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending March 5, a 23.5% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 2,867 deaths in the state. 20.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.7% were from cancer and 19.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8% 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	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Heart disease	585	765
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	536	664
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	309	460
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	255	380
Cerebrovascular diseases	203	266
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	132	175
Diabetes mellitus	75	92
Alzheimer's disease	75	109
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	49	57
Influenza and pneumonia	32	43

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	230	331