Coronavirus is particularly dangerous for the elderly, and the new study from BMJ confirms it. One in three elderly people are found to have new diseases after COVID-19.

According to Medportal.ru, specialists from the research company Optum Labs studied health insurance policies of 133,000 patients over 65 years old. Each of them was diagnosed with COVID-19 in 2020. Their data were compared with the rates of two groups of people of the same age group without the coronavirus, as well as another group of patients who had suffered various respiratory tract infections.

Researchers focused on a variety of diseases and conditions that were first diagnosed 3 weeks or later after COVID-19 or other infections. In the group of patients who had a coronavirus infection, 32% of participants had to seek medical care. This was an 11% increase compared with those diagnosed with other respiratory infections.

Most often after a coronavirus infection, older adults complained of respiratory failure, increased fatigue, high blood pressure, heart rhythm problems and memory problems. Kidney damage, diabetes, anemia, clotting disorders (hypercoagulation), and various psychiatric and neurological disorders, including stroke and dementia, were also frequently diagnosed in this group.

At the same time, after other respiratory infections, older adults most often complained of difficulty breathing and fatigue.