Keystone Today

There were 490 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending March 26, 2022, a 9.1% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending March 26, 2022, there were 2,014 deaths in the state. 24.3% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6% were from cancer and 5.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4% 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 March 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Heart disease	490	449
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	375	455
Cerebrovascular diseases	110	105
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	83	87
Diabetes mellitus	73	64
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	65	91
Alzheimer's disease	57	63
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	53
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	44	61
Influenza and pneumonia	27	26

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending March 26, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending March 19, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	189	186