Old North News

There were 91 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in North Carolina during the week ending Aug. 6, 2022, a 28.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 6, 2022, there were 1,911 deaths in the state. 17.8% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.4% were from cancer and 9.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.2% 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 Aug. 6, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 30, 2022
Heart disease	341	357
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	332	409
Cerebrovascular diseases	127	109
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	107	100
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	92	100
Alzheimer's disease	91	71
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	69	65
Diabetes mellitus	57	60
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	30	36
Influenza and pneumonia	24	23

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 30, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	195	168