Volunteer State News

There were 69 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, a 5.5% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 27, 2022, there were 1,498 deaths in the state. 21.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.3% were from cancer and 10.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.7% 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. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Heart disease	319	329
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	289	257
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	87	93
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	54
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	69	73
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	68	59
Alzheimer's disease	55	53
Diabetes mellitus	37	45
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	18
Influenza and pneumonia	15	18

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 20, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	160	121