Empire State Today

There were 73 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Sept. 17, 2022, a 7.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 17, 2022, there were 1,988 deaths in the state. 23.1% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.2% were from cancer and 7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.6% 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 Sept. 17, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022
Heart disease	459	423
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	401	423
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	88	105
Cerebrovascular diseases	74	57
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	73	79
Diabetes mellitus	52	69
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	51	61
Influenza and pneumonia	39	32
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	39	30
Alzheimer's disease	36	34

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	152	159