Sunshine Sentinel

There were 186 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending July 16, 2022, a 0.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 16, 2022, there were 4,298 deaths in the state. 20% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 12.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.4% 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 July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Heart disease	860	849
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	836	878
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	304	292
Cerebrovascular diseases	283	278
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	224	196
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	186	185
Diabetes mellitus	135	144
Alzheimer's disease	115	112
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	80	74
Influenza and pneumonia	46	51

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	362	387