Empire State Today

There were 42 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending July 16, 2022, a 31.3% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 16, 2022, there were 1,943 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.3% were from cancer and 6.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.6% 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 July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	433	404
Heart disease	409	404
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	84	81
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	66
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	73	67
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	53	43
Influenza and pneumonia	49	35
Alzheimer's disease	42	32
Diabetes mellitus	40	50
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	36	22

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 9, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	167	144