Volunteer State News

There were 48 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending March 5, a 2.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 5, there were 1,244 deaths in the state. 20.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.8% were from cancer and 24.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6% 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 March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Heart disease	255	295
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	196	201
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	170	250
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	136	212
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	63	55
Cerebrovascular diseases	57	71
Alzheimer's disease	48	47
Diabetes mellitus	25	41
Influenza and pneumonia	21	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	24

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 5	Deaths in Week Ending Feb. 26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	119	128