Empire State Today

There were 58 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending March 26, 2022, a 23.4% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 26, 2022, there were 1,512 deaths in the state. 23.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.6% were from cancer and 5.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.8% 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 March 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Heart disease	355	354
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	312	289
Cerebrovascular diseases	60	59
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	47
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	52	54
Alzheimer's disease	44	25
Diabetes mellitus	37	45
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	34	35
Influenza and pneumonia	25	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	25	35

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	148	140