Empire State Today

There were 105 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending November 6, a 1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending November 6, there were 2,218 deaths in the state. 21.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.7 percent were from cancer and 19.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Heart disease	469	482
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	393	383
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	230	233
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	206	214
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	105	104
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	87
Diabetes mellitus	59	59
Alzheimer's disease	50	35
Influenza and pneumonia	44	49
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	32	35

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-11-06	Number of Deaths 2021-10-30
Alzheimer disease and dementia	189	167