Volunteer State News

There were 58 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 16% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,575 deaths in the state. 21% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.9% were from cancer and 9.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.6% 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 Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Heart disease	331	358
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	297	307
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	88	86
Cerebrovascular diseases	85	69
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	74	82
Alzheimer's disease	58	50
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	58	48
Diabetes mellitus	41	47
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	37
Influenza and pneumonia	13	20

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	167	141