Palmetto State News

There were 215 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, a 29.5% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 24, 2022, there were 1,079 deaths in the state. 19.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18.6% were from cancer and 5.6% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10% 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. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Heart disease	215	166
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	201	241
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	58	44
Cerebrovascular diseases	54	54
Alzheimer's disease	45	42
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	42	35
Diabetes mellitus	33	14
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	18
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	18	24
Influenza and pneumonia	11	17

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 24, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	108	102