Sunshine Sentinel

There were 548 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending March 12, a 4.7% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 12, there were 2,832 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.4% were from cancer and 13.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7% 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 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Heart disease	602	625
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	548	575
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	209	331
Cerebrovascular diseases	208	213
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	173	273
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	131	139
Alzheimer's disease	84	78
Diabetes mellitus	80	84
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	53
Influenza and pneumonia	33	35

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 12	Deaths in Week Ending March 5
Alzheimer disease and dementia	219	243