Buckeye Reporter

There were 298 deaths with heart disease listed as the underlying cause reported in Ohio during the week ending May 14, 2022, a 36.2% decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending May 14, 2022, there were 1,477 deaths in the state. 20.2% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.8% were from cancer and 4.3% were from COVID-19.

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 May 14, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending May 7, 2022
Heart disease	298	467
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	292	396
Cerebrovascular diseases	81	103
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	76	114
Alzheimer's disease	52	79
Diabetes mellitus	41	62
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	39	38
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	24	21
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	21	32
Influenza and pneumonia	15	20