Volunteer State News

There were 78 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending May 28, 2022, a 2.6% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 28, 2022, there were 1,222 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.9% were from cancer and 4.7% were from COVID-19.

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 May 28, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022
Heart disease	257	312
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	231	280
Cerebrovascular diseases	78	76
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	69	85
Alzheimer's disease	49	56
Diabetes mellitus	43	39
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	34	29
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	24	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	24
Influenza and pneumonia	17	16