Why Covid 19 is More Severe in Older People
Latest research explained in plain language (i.e. Plainly Put)
The research paper “Ageing, inflammaging and immunosenescence as risk factors of severe COVID-19” explores how age-related changes in the immune system, specifically inflammaging and immunosenescence, contribute to the severity of COVID-19, particularly in elderly individuals.
How ageing affects the fight against COVID-19
When it comes to battling COVID-19, not everyone’s immune system is on equal footing. Older people often have a harder time because their immune systems don’t work as well as they used to. This is due to two main reasons: “inflammaging” and “immunosenescence.”
Inflammaging is like a constant, low-level fire of inflammation that gets worse with age, and immunosenescence means the immune system is getting old and tired. Together, they make it tougher for older people to recover from COVID-19.
Why older people’s immune systems struggle with COVID-19
As we get older, our immune system doesn’t respond as quickly or as strongly as it once did. This is because of immunosenescence, which is a fancy way of saying our immune defences are getting old. On top of that, inflammaging adds to the problem by keeping the body in a state of mild, ongoing inflammation.
This can mess with the immune system’s ability to fight off COVID-19 effectively.
The problem with T cells as we age
T cells are like the body’s security guards, always on the lookout for invaders. But as we age, we have fewer of these guards on patrol. The thymus, which is like the training academy for T cells, starts to shrink after puberty, and by the time we’re older, it’s not producing as many fresh T cells.
This means there are fewer T cells to respond to new threats, like the virus that causes COVID-19.
The shrinking thymus and its effect on T cells
The thymus is super important for making T cells, but as we get older, it starts to shrink and doesn’t work as well. This process is called thymus involution, and because of this, there aren’t as many new T cells being made, which can make it harder for the body to deal with new infections, including COVID-19.
The research shows that as we get older, our immune system doesn’t work as well because of changes like inflammaging and immunosenescence, and this can make it harder for older people to fight off COVID-19.
Understanding these changes can help us figure out better ways to help the elderly when they’re dealing with diseases like COVID-19.
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