Old Dominion News

There were 51 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 15% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,508 deaths in the state. 19.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5% were from cancer and 6.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.8% 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 Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	309	330
Heart disease	293	282
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	73
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	61	55
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	59	76
Alzheimer's disease	51	60
Diabetes mellitus	48	49
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	35	53
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	27	31
Influenza and pneumonia	13	19

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	178	168