Empire State Today

There were 51 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New York state during the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, a 41.7% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 12, 2022, there were 2,087 deaths in the state. 22.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 9.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.1% 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 Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Heart disease	469	511
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	408	416
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	118	142
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	90
Cerebrovascular diseases	82	75
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	79	96
Diabetes mellitus	52	49
Alzheimer's disease	51	36
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	37	39
Influenza and pneumonia	34	36

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 12, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	190	183