Empire State Today

There were 461 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, a 3.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, there were 1,906 deaths in the state. 24.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8% were from cancer and 7.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1% 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. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Heart disease	461	445
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	378	424
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	84	85
Cerebrovascular diseases	75	90
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	60	76
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	60	48
Diabetes mellitus	38	52
Alzheimer's disease	36	43
Influenza and pneumonia	35	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	31	27

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	155	167