Empire State Today

There were 426 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Aug. 13, 2022, a 1.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 13, 2022, there were 1,986 deaths in the state. 22.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and 7.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5% 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 Aug. 13, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6, 2022
Heart disease	452	444
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	426	421
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	91	93
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	71	75
Cerebrovascular diseases	65	65
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	64	62
Alzheimer's disease	39	46
Diabetes mellitus	37	41
Influenza and pneumonia	36	34
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	34	35

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	168	168