Sunshine Sentinel

There were 842 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending June 11, 2022, a 2.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 11, 2022, there were 3,756 deaths in the state. 21.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.4% were from cancer and 7.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4% 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 June 11, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 4, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	842	819
Heart disease	797	797
Cerebrovascular diseases	273	270
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	185	193
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	164	146
Alzheimer's disease	123	117
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	115	95
Diabetes mellitus	102	125
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	65	64
Influenza and pneumonia	51	43

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 11, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 4, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	352	329