Sunshine Sentinel

There were 974 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, a 10.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, there were 4,423 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20% were from cancer and 3.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1% 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 Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Heart disease	974	879
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	883	941
Cerebrovascular diseases	304	298
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	243	214
Diabetes mellitus	133	124
Alzheimer's disease	126	124
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	96	107
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	64	71
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	62	70
Influenza and pneumonia	46	60

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	358	363