A study examined over 87,000 adults aged 65 years and above who had COVID-19 infections in 2020, drawing data on claims from the Medicare Advantage plans of UnitedHealth Group.
A Daily Breeze report specified that almost 18 months after getting infected with COVID-19 and "spending weeks in the hospital," Terry Bell struggles with hanging up his clothes after doing the laundry.
Lifting his shirts and pants, raising his arms, and arranging items in his closet leave Bell short of breath and frequently stimulate severe fatigue.
He walks supported by a cane, just short distances. Moreover, he is also lighter by 50 pounds compared to before the virus struck him.
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Robert Cole, 74, receives the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine during the distribution of vaccines to seniors above the age of 65 who are experiencing homelessness at the Los Angeles Mission in the Skid Row area of Downtown Los Angeles, California, on February 10, 2021
Long COVID in Older Adults
Aged 70, Bell is among the millions of seniors who have grappled with long COVID. This population has been given little attention, even though the study suggests older adults are more likely to develop the poorly understood condition than younger or middle-aged adults.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that long COVID refers to existing or new health problems that occur at least four weeks after COVID-19 infection.
Common symptoms, which can last months, or even years, include shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle, joint pain, elevated heart rate, sleep disruption, and problems with concentration, language, attention, and memory, a set of difficulties also known as "brain fog."
Lasting inflammation or a dysfunctional immune system response may be responsible, together with reservoirs of the COVID-19 virus that stay in the body, small body clots, or residual damage to the vascular system, brain, lungs, heart, kidney, or other organs.
Higher Rate of Symptoms of Long COVID in Seniors
A similar MedScape report said that only now is the effect on older adults beginning to be recorded. In the largest study of its kind, researchers approximated that 32 percent of older adults in the United States who survived COVID infection experienced symptoms of long COVID up to four months from infection, more than twice the 14-percent rate earlier research found in adults whose ages range from 18 to 64 years old.
Long COVID in adults included symptoms that lasted 21 days or longer following an infection, a shorter period than the CDC's definition of long COVID.
The data includes older adults admitted to the hospital because of COVID-19 at about 27 percent and those who were not hospitalized, at 73 percent.
The higher rate of symptoms of post-COVID in older adults is likely because of a higher occurrence of chronic disease and physical susceptibility in the population, traits that have led to a greater burden of severe disease hospital confinement and death among seniors throughout the pandemic.
According to Dr. Ken Cohen, the co-author of the study published in BMJ, older adults, on average, are less resilient. Cohen, also the executive director of transitional care for Optum Care, added these people do not have the same ability to bounce back from severe disease.
Decreased Ability to Perform Daily Activities
Applying the research findings to the most recent data from the CDC suggests that up to 2.5 million seniors may have been affected by long COVID.
For these people, the consequences can be very devastating. The commencement of disability, the inability to work, decreased the ability to perform activities of everyday life, not to mention the lower quality of life.
Related information about COVID-19 in older adults is shown on MelissaBPhD's YouTube video below:
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