Palmetto State News

There were 51 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in South Carolina during the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, a 34.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 22, 2022, there were 1,149 deaths in the state. 19.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.1% were from cancer and 3.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 10.7% 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. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Heart disease	221	194
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	220	200
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	61	53
Cerebrovascular diseases	61	51
Alzheimer's disease	51	38
Diabetes mellitus	38	39
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	27	35
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	22
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	15	24
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	13

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 22, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	123	97