Empire State Today

There were 400 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, no changes from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, there were 2,097 deaths in the state. 23.1% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.1% were from cancer and 11.9% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.2% 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. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Heart disease	484	492
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	400	400
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	147	121
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	102	91
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	99	81
Cerebrovascular diseases	86	84
Diabetes mellitus	52	57
Influenza and pneumonia	46	47
Alzheimer's disease	46	50
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	37

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	172	200