Natural State News

There were 23 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Arkansas during the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, a 15% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, there were 661 deaths in the state. 23% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.4% were from cancer and 8.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 9.4% 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. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Heart disease	152	157
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	135	131
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	42	29
Cerebrovascular diseases	36	39
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	35	33
Alzheimer's disease	30	24
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	23	20
Diabetes mellitus	22	17
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	15	19
Influenza and pneumonia	< 10	10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	62	53