It is known that the lungs are far from the only target of the coronavirus, and the pathogen can affect other vital organs. A large American study has confirmed that COVID-19 is especially dangerous for older people. Results published in BMJ.
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To assess the effects of the coronavirus on older people, Optum Labs, a research company, studied the health insurance coverage of 133,000 patients over 65 years of age. Each of them was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020. Their data was compared with the performance of two groups of people of the same age group without coronavirus, as well as with another group of patients who had various respiratory infections.
The scientists focused on various diseases and conditions that were first diagnosed three weeks and later after COVID-19 or other infections. In the group of patients who underwent coronavirus, 32% of participants were forced to seek medical help. This is 11% more than those diagnosed with other respiratory infections.
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Most often, older people after coronavirus complained about respiratory failure, fatigue, high blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, memory problems. Other common diagnoses in this group were kidney damage, diabetes, anemia, bleeding disorders (hypercoagulability), and various psychiatric and neurological disorders, including stroke and dementia. It is noteworthy that in elderly patients, after other respiratory infections, there were mainly complaints of shortness of breath and fatigue.
“The highest risk of complications was in patients over 75 years of age, as well as those who had a severe course of COVID-19 in men as well,” the authors of the study said. They stressed that older people after the coronavirus need increased attention from doctors.