Garden State Times

There were 31 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, a 22.5% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 10, 2022, there were 1,451 deaths in the state. 22.4% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.6% were from cancer and 6.1% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 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 Sept. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Heart disease	325	287
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	314	309
Cerebrovascular diseases	70	62
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	57	53
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	46	42
Alzheimer's disease	45	34
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	41	26
Diabetes mellitus	35	25
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	31	40
Influenza and pneumonia	19	17

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 3, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	130	103