Evergreen Reporter

There were 70 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in the state of Washington during the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, a 12.9% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 29, 2022, there were 1,200 deaths in the state. 17.5% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.9% were from cancer and 4.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.2% 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. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	275	245
Heart disease	210	188
Alzheimer's disease	70	62
Cerebrovascular diseases	66	62
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	54	53
Diabetes mellitus	35	40
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	34	39
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	18	29
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	14	< 10
Influenza and pneumonia	11	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 29, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	134	127