Empire State Today

There were 74 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Feb. 12, a 17.8 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Feb. 12, there were 1,857 deaths in the state. 22.2 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 14.9 percent were from cancer and 30 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.2 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 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Heart disease	413	518
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	301	522
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	277	407
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	257	443
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	74	90
Cerebrovascular diseases	72	92
Alzheimer's disease	47	51
Influenza and pneumonia	39	47
Diabetes mellitus	39	60
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	35	42

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-02-12	Number of Deaths 2022-02-05
Alzheimer disease and dementia	189	228