Evergreen Reporter

There were 278 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, a 9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, there were 1,234 deaths in the state. 17.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.5% were from cancer and 7.2% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.7% 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 Sept. 3, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	278	255
Heart disease	213	212
Alzheimer's disease	79	65
Cerebrovascular diseases	63	60
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	53	43
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	51	52
Diabetes mellitus	42	23
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	36	26
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	16	11
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	144	120