Old Dominion News

There were 85 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Virginia during the week ending Nov. 5, 2022, a 7.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Nov. 5, 2022, there were 1,510 deaths in the state. 18.6% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.5% were from cancer and 5.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 13.1% 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. 5, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	309	308
Heart disease	281	330
Cerebrovascular diseases	85	92
Alzheimer's disease	56	48
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	55	48
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	52	45
Diabetes mellitus	49	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	24	28
Influenza and pneumonia	18	20

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Nov. 5, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	198	149