Sunshine Sentinel

There were 893 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending July 30, 2022, a 0.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 30, 2022, there were 4,386 deaths in the state. 20.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8% were from cancer and 12.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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 30, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022
Heart disease	893	892
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	869	901
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	332	339
Cerebrovascular diseases	291	358
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	221	219
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	207	210
Diabetes mellitus	146	144
Alzheimer's disease	115	116
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	74	77
Influenza and pneumonia	42	45

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 30, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	365	387