Empire State Today

There were 79 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, a 5.3% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, there were 1,927 deaths in the state. 21.7% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.8% were from cancer and 8.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	420	409
Heart disease	418	426
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	105	89
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	79	75
Diabetes mellitus	68	62
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	61	48
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	69
Alzheimer's disease	34	36
Influenza and pneumonia	32	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	27

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	159	164