Empire State Today

There were 79 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Jan. 22, a 22.5 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 22, there were 2,805 deaths in the state. 20.1 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.8 percent were from cancer and 46.7 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6 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 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	711	703
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	598	598
Heart disease	564	581
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	415	407
Cerebrovascular diseases	94	91
Diabetes mellitus	87	71
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	79	102
Influenza and pneumonia	55	61
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	47	41
Alzheimer's disease	44	65

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-22	Number of Deaths 2022-01-15
Alzheimer disease and dementia	213	246