Volunteer State News

There were 67 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending July 23, 2022, a 17.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 23, 2022, there were 1,516 deaths in the state. 18.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.5% were from cancer and 10.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.8% 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 July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	296	269
Heart disease	286	313
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	89	84
Cerebrovascular diseases	84	75
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	78	60
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	67	57
Alzheimer's disease	53	44
Diabetes mellitus	39	56
Influenza and pneumonia	25	19
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	22

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending July 23, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending July 16, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	134	136