Sunshine Sentinel

There were 928 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Florida during the week ending June 17, a 5.3% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 17, there were 4,343 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.4% were from cancer and 2.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7% 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 June 17	Deaths in Week Ending June 10
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	928	881
Heart disease	926	905
Cerebrovascular diseases	336	304
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	223	231
Diabetes mellitus	148	144
Alzheimer's disease	115	116
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	71	68
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	59	70
Influenza and pneumonia	58	35
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	44	50

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 17	Deaths in Week Ending June 10
Alzheimer disease and dementia	334	335