Sunshine Sentinel

There were 901 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Oct. 1, 2022, a 1.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 1, 2022, there were 4,251 deaths in the state. 21.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.1% were from cancer and 6.7% 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 Oct. 1, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022
Heart disease	901	885
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	856	893
Cerebrovascular diseases	293	313
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	200	203
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	175	210
Diabetes mellitus	152	150
Alzheimer's disease	115	121
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	109	127
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	71	75
Influenza and pneumonia	45	48

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	353	383