Old North News

There were 70 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending July 23, 2022, a 22.8% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, 2022, there were 1,902 deaths in the state. 18.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7% were from cancer and 9.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.7% 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 July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	375	366
Heart disease	353	365
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	112	83
Cerebrovascular diseases	111	97
Alzheimer's disease	84	69
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	84	81
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	70	57
Diabetes mellitus	56	54
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	29	37
Influenza and pneumonia	16	18

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	184	179