Sunshine Sentinel

There were 123 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Oct. 8, 2022, a 7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 8, 2022, there were 4,431 deaths in the state. 19.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 5.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2% 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. 8, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	915	856
Heart disease	882	901
Cerebrovascular diseases	316	293
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	247	200
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	147	175
Diabetes mellitus	127	152
Alzheimer's disease	123	115
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	93	109
Influenza and pneumonia	55	45
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	55	71

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	363	353