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 Oct. 29, 2022, a 20.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, there were 2,103 deaths in the state. 22.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.4% were from cancer and 9.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9% 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. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Heart disease	479	484
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	388	400
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	120	147
Cerebrovascular diseases	93	86
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	79	99
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	78	102
Diabetes mellitus	58	52
Alzheimer's disease	53	46
Influenza and pneumonia	46	46
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	26

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	208	172