Bluegrass Times

There were 185 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Kentucky during the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, a 3.6% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 3, 2022, there were 827 deaths in the state. 23% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.4% were from cancer and 13.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.6% 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. 3, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 27, 2022
Heart disease	190	201
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	185	192
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	69	84
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	54	49
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	44	47
Cerebrovascular diseases	30	30
Alzheimer's disease	28	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	22	14
Diabetes mellitus	19	24
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	79	75