Garden State Times

There were 270 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in New Jersey during the week ending June 24, a 10% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending June 24, there were 1,256 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 21.5% were from cancer and less than 0.8% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 6.3% 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 June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Heart disease	302	287
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	270	300
Cerebrovascular diseases	50	57
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	49	54
Diabetes mellitus	39	30
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	30	45
Alzheimer's disease	25	37
Influenza and pneumonia	14	11
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	< 10	< 10
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	< 10	< 10

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending June 24	Deaths in Week Ending June 17
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	121