Golden State Today

There were 994 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending June 18, 2022, a 5.4% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 18, 2022, there were 4,471 deaths in the state. 22.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and 7.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 11.9% 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 June 18, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 11, 2022
Heart disease	994	1,051
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	962	1,060
Alzheimer's disease	304	337
Cerebrovascular diseases	277	335
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	190	191
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	182	192
Diabetes mellitus	170	186
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	134	141
Influenza and pneumonia	74	58
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	68	76

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 18, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending June 11, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	530	569