Keystone Today

There were 551 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Pennsylvania during the week ending Aug. 13, 2022, a 7.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Aug. 13, 2022, there were 2,463 deaths in the state. 22.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7% were from cancer and 8.4% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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 Aug. 13, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6, 2022
Heart disease	551	514
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	486	517
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	123	103
Cerebrovascular diseases	89	104
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	86	106
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	83	77
Diabetes mellitus	62	54
Alzheimer's disease	56	70
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	52	58
Influenza and pneumonia	30	29

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 13, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Aug. 6, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	204	215