Magnolia State News

There were 108 deaths with cancer listed as the underlying cause reported in Mississippi during the week ending Sept. 17, 2022, a 10.2% increase over the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending Sept. 17, 2022, there were 601 deaths in the state. 24% of deaths were caused by heart disease, 18% were from cancer and 12.3% were from COVID-19. Additionally, 8.3% 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 Sept. 17, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022
Heart disease	144	165
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	108	98
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	46	32
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	35	35
Alzheimer's disease	31	38
Cerebrovascular diseases	31	28
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	28	27
Influenza and pneumonia	16	14
Diabetes mellitus	14	31
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	< 10	14

Cause of Death	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 17, 2022	Deaths in Week Ending Sept. 10, 2022
Alzheimer disease and dementia	50	53