The ‘severe’ side effect of COVID-19 that may ‘worsen’ with increasing age – new study
Coronavirus latest news headlines on January 4th
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Since emerging in China in December 2019, the coronavirus has claimed the lives of more than five million people, withstanding relentless efforts to terminate its spread. One major concern has been the self-propagating nature of COVID-19, which has threatened to outflank immunity offered by the vaccine. But further concerns lie in the future risks it poses to the health of those it infects. In a new study, scientists have noted a severe deficiency arising in patients, which may raise the risk of myriad health complications further down the line.
The study, by researchers Baylor College of Medicine, was conducted on a sample of 60 patients who were admitted to hospital with COVID-19.
Researchers used blood samples to measure levels of oxidative stress, oxidant damage and glutathione in the patients, which were thereafter compared to those from healthy individuals.
Glutathione is crucial for the building and repair of tissues, helping produce chemicals and proteins needed in the body and immune system.
A deficiency in glutathione is an extremely rare disorder that can be classified into different types – mild, moderate and severe.
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According to Medline Plus: “People affected by the severe form of this disorder may experience neurological symptoms.
“These problems may include seizures; a generalised slowing down of physical reaction, movements, and speech, intellectual disability and a loss of coordination.”
In previous research, Doctor Rajagopal Sekhar, Associate Professor of Medicine in the section of endocrinology and his team had established that levels of oxidative stress tend to remain stable in healthy individuals until the age of 60, when they start increasing.
Oxidative stress refers to an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body, one of the key contributors to ageing.
Glutathione, on the other hand, starts declining after the age of 60, but in patients infected with COVID-19, this pattern changed.
To their surprise, the team observed that patients with COVID-19 aged 21 to 60 had much less glutathione and more oxidative stress than their otherwise healthy counterparts.
Doctor Sekhar noted: “We knew that healthy people without COVID-19 above the age of 60 years tend to be glutathione-deficient and have elevated oxidative stress.
“However, when the 60-plus age group gets COVID-19, their glutathione levels were much lower and oxidative stress was much higher than those of a similar age but without COVID-19.”
The team highlighted that the discovery was important because it highlighted the potential risk for disease further down the line.
“Increased oxidative stress and reduced glutathione levels are associated with a number of conditions including ageing, diabetes, HIV infection, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular disorders, neuro-diseases, obesity and others,” added Doctor Sekhar.
He continued: “We suspected that COVID-19 also might be affecting oxidative stress and glutathione, and in this study, we confirmed this in adults hospitalised with COVID-19.
“We found that these defects occur in all adult age groups including young people, and worsen with increasing age.
“These defects appear to get progressively worse with increasing age, and the oldest patients with COVID-19 had higher levels of defects in these outcomes.”
The researchers established that supplementation with GlyNAC, which comprises natural precursors of the natural antioxidant glutathione, could improve the defects in populations infected with COVID-19.
The current findings call for future research into the benefits of GlyNAC supplements to help the body fight off serious glutathione deficiency.
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