Volunteer State News

There were 59 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Tennessee during the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, a 13.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, there were 1,621 deaths in the state. 20.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 17% were from cancer and 6.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.9% 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 Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Heart disease	332	350
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	275	288
Cerebrovascular diseases	79	83
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	77	77
Alzheimer's disease	59	52
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	57	57
Diabetes mellitus	48	46
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	42	35
Influenza and pneumonia	32	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	23

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	161	137