Garden State Times

There were 48 deaths with chronic lower respiratory disease listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending October 9, a 6.7 percent increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending October 9, there were 1,487 deaths in the state. 18.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 20.1 percent were from cancer and 15.4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3 percent 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	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	299	316
Heart disease	280	287
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	120	123
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	109	111
Cerebrovascular diseases	83	67
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	48	45
Alzheimer's disease	46	43
Diabetes mellitus	33	37
Influenza and pneumonia	27	23
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	26	35

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-10-09	Number of Deaths 2021-10-02
Alzheimer disease and dementia	123	112