Golden State Today

There were 304 deaths with Alzheimer's disease listed as the underlying cause reported in California during the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, a 5.3% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Oct. 15, 2022, there were 5,291 deaths in the state. 20.9% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 22.8% were from cancer and 3.7% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.5% 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. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Alzheimer's disease	304	321
Cerebrovascular diseases	300	349
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	196	206
Diabetes mellitus	177	197
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	124	134
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	81	76
Influenza and pneumonia	75	76
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	73	82
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	1,208	1,166
Heart disease	1,104	1,093

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 15, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Oct. 8, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	504	559