Sunshine Sentinel

There were 896 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, a 4.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, there were 4,410 deaths in the state. 20.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 10.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5% 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 Aug. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	908	912
Heart disease	896	939
Cerebrovascular diseases	290	349
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	290	341
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	217	202
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	190	230
Diabetes mellitus	130	145
Alzheimer's disease	115	106
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	68	65
Influenza and pneumonia	43	45

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	376	319