Old Dominion News

There were 296 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, a 3.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, there were 1,454 deaths in the state. 20.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6% were from cancer and 4.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.1% 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 Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Heart disease	296	307
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	270	310
Cerebrovascular diseases	73	95
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	83
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	46	59
Diabetes mellitus	44	41
Alzheimer's disease	44	47
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	34	25
Influenza and pneumonia	26	18
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	23	43

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	161	148