Empire State Today

There were 422 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, a 8.7% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, there were 1,922 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.3% were from cancer and 7.1% 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 Sept. 3, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022
Heart disease	422	462
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	409	378
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	89	84
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	74	60
Cerebrovascular diseases	69	75
Diabetes mellitus	62	38
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	48	60
Alzheimer's disease	36	36
Influenza and pneumonia	30	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	27	31

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	164	155