Russia (bbabo.net), - Even a mild course of coronavirus can trigger inflammatory processes in the body, similar to those that occur in old age. This means that COVID-19 provokes early aging. But even before the pandemic, doctors warned that such "senile" diseases as dementia and Alzheimer's were getting younger.

What should be done to not only live longer, but also to maintain the quality of life? This was told by the chief geriatrician of the Ministry of Health of Russia Olga Tkacheva.

Three reasons to be wary of "omicron"

When infected with the strain "omicron" in most young patients, the disease is mild, but this is not a reason to take it lightly. Especially the elderly need to be careful. They have "omicron", just like the previous strains, can lead to a severe course and long covid.

“Now many people make a serious mistake. They are not afraid to get sick and think that supposedly it is better than getting vaccinated,” warned Olga Tkacheva. "Secondly, "omicron" is not easy for everyone, there are cases of complications, primarily in patients with chronic diseases. First of all, these are just the elderly. And the third point: post-covid syndrome. A study is underway in our geriatric center, we are evaluating the consequences of COVID-19 and we see that long-term covid can develop even in those who endured the acute phase easily. COVID-19 leaves consequences - this is obvious."

The best way to prevent, Olga Tkacheva insists, is vaccination and, if the time has come, revaccination. "Do not think that it is easier to get sick than to be vaccinated. Those who have been ill will still have problems," the doctor said.

What vaccinations are needed in adulthood

Few people know, but there are many "adult" vaccinations. And this is not only protection against tetanus or rabies, or tick-borne encephalitis - with these infections, there is no doubt about the need to vaccinate the victims. But there are other dangerous infections.

“Adults also need vaccination. It’s not just about coronavirus vaccinations. The National Calendar provides for vaccinations and revaccination for adults, and this calendar must be followed,” Tkacheva explained. “For example, vaccination against hepatitis B. This is a very serious infectious disease, it leaves a mark for life. And the worst thing is that the disease can be avoided if you get vaccinated. "

According to Tkacheva, thanks to the coronavirus epidemic over the past two years, many people have become much more serious about vaccination (despite the fact that anti-vaccination sentiments are still strong in our country, and in other countries as well). Gradually, society will come to understand the need for vaccination throughout life, the chief geriatrician believes. And there are vaccinations that must be done in old age. "This is, for example, vaccination against pneumococcus - it must be done at the age of over 60-65 years," Tkacheva said.

The reason is more than convincing: in the elderly, respiratory viral infections (and not only the coronavirus, but also the flu, and even the commonplace SARS) often lead to a serious complication - pneumonia. If a bacterial infection, the same pneumococcus, joins a viral infection, this further aggravates the course of the disease, up to death.

"The pandemic has exacerbated the problem of attitudes towards vaccination, and we will solve it anyway," the specialist concluded.

Check the markers of aging

Although research is ongoing, scientists are already warning today that coronavirus infection triggers inflammatory processes in the body that are similar to those associated with old age. This means that COVID-19 leads to early aging.

There are vaccinations that the elderly need - against pneumococcus, for example

“At the Russian Gerontological Center, we are conducting research: we are monitoring covid patients, looking at their aging markers. In patients with coronavirus infection, they are really elevated. This suggests that COVID-19 triggers inflammatory processes in the body that lead to early aging ", - Olga Tkacheva explained. - But we do not yet know what will happen next, perhaps after recovery, these processes will stop. In any case, it is wrong to say now that, having become ill with COVID-19, we will quickly become old and die out, is wrong. This, of course not."

But to be careful is the right decision.

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Pay attention to the behavior of relatives

"COVID-19 can increase the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. A morphological study of the brain tissue of those who died from coronavirus infection showed that they had impaired tau protein metabolism. And this is a worrying factor, since the same processes underlie the development of Alzheimer's disease," Tkacheva warned.The fact that COVID-19 negatively affects cognitive functions is indicated by symptoms such as "fog in the head" - when patients have impaired memory, inhibition of reactions appears, they complain that it is more difficult for them to think, performance decreases, sleep worsens, depression increases - all this points to the oppression of brain functions.

At the same time, the geriatrician emphasized that COVID is a “surprisingly variable disease”, in different patients it occurs with varying degrees of severity and a wide range of clinical manifestations. And proper rehabilitation helps to recover.

By the way, about the "epidemic" of dementia and Alzheimer's disease - the diseases, of course, are not contagious, but the number of cases in the world is growing very quickly, so worried doctors compare their spread with an epidemic. Thus, the experience of the country of centenarians, Japan, shows that after 80 years, cognitive impairments are already observed in every second person. Neither a developed economy nor quality health care guarantees. Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, and many other brilliant personalities suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

The difficulty is that in most cases the diagnosis is made late, and the patient himself and his family attribute the early manifestations of the disease (memory disturbances, character changes) to the last to the age.

“Very often, both the patients themselves and their relatives make a big mistake: they believe that memory deterioration, the emergence of new behavioral qualities - touchiness, tearfulness - all this is associated with age. In fact, the character does not change during life. Therefore, if the behavior of an elderly person is noticeably changing - you must definitely do this," advises Olga Tkacheva.

Yes, Alzheimer's is still untreatable, although there are new drugs that help stop the process of brain degradation.

“It is also important that we can delay the onset of the disease by taking preventive measures, because we know the risk factors for its development. If we fight risk factors at a young and mature age, we can postpone the onset of the disease for years,” concluded Olga Tkacheva.

By the way

Since 2016, a three-level system of geriatric care has been formed in Russia. More than 1,300 geriatric surgeries have been opened in the regions, specialized geriatric centers and inpatient departments are being created - today there are already 7,400 beds, where multimorbid patients are provided not only with care, but also with full-fledged treatment using new technologies that improves the quality of life.

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