COVID-19 as a Disease of Aging

Researchers are writing a great many papers these days to point out the obvious regarding COVID-19, that the vast majority of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus mortality occurs in olders individuals, particularly those who already suffer age-related disease and thus a high burden of tissue and immune system dysfunction. This process of repeating the obvious seems necessary, given that the public discourse on the topic of the present pandemic presents it as a condition that affects all members of society more or less equally. In fact it is a condition that does little more than inconvenience near all younger people who are infected, while being quite dangerous for the old - along the same lines as influenza and many other common infectious diseases. This is entirely due to the fact that old people have damaged, dysfunctional immune systems. A range of research programs aim at rejuvenation of the immune system, and in a better world they would be receiving a great deal more attention than is presently the case. Older subjects, men, and those with pre-existing conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer, heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are more prevalent among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Clinical risk factors for COVID-19-related deaths have been identified using a very large cohort. The most common comorbidities have age as a risk factor and have been described in recent years as age-related diseases. The COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR), that ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs