Accelerated biological aging
Covid adds years or decades to "biological age," such that the DNA of a 25yo can look like that of a 50yo after even a mild infection.
Multiple measures of age were studied including methylation and telomere shortening. Telomeres are protective caps on DNA strands that are useful as cellular biomarkers for aging and have been linked to aging related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and more. These were significantly shorter for all age groups after Covid. The average biological aging effect due to a Covid infection was 10 years, with the greatest changes in younger patients.
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