Garden State Times

There were 252 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending Jan. 1, a 22.2 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Jan. 1, there were 1,674 deaths in the state. 21.8 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 15.1 percent were from cancer and 34.9 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.1 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 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Heart disease	365	366
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	310	195
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	274	178
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	252	324
Cerebrovascular diseases	68	77
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	57	48
Diabetes mellitus	55	34
Alzheimer's disease	39	43
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	33	36
Influenza and pneumonia	21	21

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2022-01-01	Number of Deaths 2021-12-25
Alzheimer disease and dementia	135	122