Evergreen Reporter

There were 54 deaths with cerebrovascular disease listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending May 28, 2022, a 5.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 28, 2022, there were 1,010 deaths in the state. 19.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.2% were from cancer and 6.9% were from COVID-19.

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 May 28, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 21, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	214	238
Heart disease	195	193
Alzheimer's disease	70	47
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	57	59
Cerebrovascular diseases	54	51
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	40	28
Diabetes mellitus	37	29
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	30	19
Influenza and pneumonia	10	13
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	< 10