Volunteer State News

There were 72 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, a 2.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 20, 2022, there were 1,420 deaths in the state. 22% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17.9% were from cancer and 11.5% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.5% 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 Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Heart disease	313	300
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	254	298
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	91	90
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	72	70
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	83
Alzheimer's disease	52	67
Cerebrovascular diseases	52	71
Diabetes mellitus	44	48
Influenza and pneumonia	18	25
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	18	14

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	120	146