Volunteer State News

There were 317 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending June 18, 2022, a 1.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 18, 2022, there were 1,322 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 5.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5% 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 June 18, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 11, 2022
Heart disease	317	322
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	258	277
Cerebrovascular diseases	77	71
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	72	74
Alzheimer's disease	56	47
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	43	39
Diabetes mellitus	37	38
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	26	26
Influenza and pneumonia	20	22
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	20

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 18, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 11, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	125	120