Empire State Today

There were 513 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Jan. 15, a 1 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 15, there were 2,542 deaths in the state. 20.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 13.4 percent were from cancer and 45.8 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.9 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 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	625	607
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	538	548
Heart disease	513	508
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	341	417
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	94
Cerebrovascular diseases	78	96
Diabetes mellitus	63	71
Alzheimer's disease	57	36
Influenza and pneumonia	56	52
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	39	42

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15	Number of Deaths 2022-01-08
Alzheimer disease and dementia	225	195