Empire State Today

There were 404 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Oct. 8, 2022, a 4.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 8, 2022, there were 2,083 deaths in the state. 22.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.4% were from cancer and 9.3% 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 Oct. 8, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1, 2022
Heart disease	475	493
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	404	386
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	116	105
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	86	81
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	77	66
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	87
Diabetes mellitus	55	60
Influenza and pneumonia	37	41
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	34	38
Alzheimer's disease	27	46

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 1, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	168	180