The Anonymous Widower

A Thought On Deaths Of The Elderly From Covid-19

It has been shown, that a lot of the deaths from Covid-19 are over seventy.

I am seventy-two and a coeliac, which was diagnosed when I was fifty.

As my GP practice nurse said at the time of my diagnosis, as we read my doctors notes together, the signs are there of coeliac disease in a lot of my visits to a doctor.

So why wasn’t I diagnosed earlier?

• There wasn’t a test for young children until 1960, so my early bad health couldn’t be diagnosed.
• No clue as to my problems was obtained until an elderly but extremely competent locum decided that my blood should be analysed as a fiftieth birthday present. I had no B12 and was running on empty.
• Eventually, I was sent to Addenbrooke’s and I was diagnosed by a blood test. I suspect it was a trial of a new genetic test, as I got the result by post in two days.

How many undiagnosed coeliacs are there in those over seventy, who because they are coeliacs, have a compromised immune system?

I would be undiagnosed but for that elderly locum!

How many other coeliacs are there in the UK population?

• Age UK has a figure of twelve million who are over 65 in the UK.
• If 1-in-100, as stated by Coeliac UK, in the UK are coeliac, that is 120,000 coeliacs over 65.

Note that as of today 177,388 have been diagnosed with Covid-19.

Conclusion

Many of those 120,000 coeliacs will have been born before 1960 and have a high probably of not having been diagnosed. for the simple reason, that a childhood test for coeliac disease didn’t exist.

Will these undiagnosed coeliacs have a compromised immune system, that makes them  more susceptible to Covid-19?

It has been said, that a good immune system helps you fight Covid-19!

April 30, 2020 - Posted by AnonW | Health | Coeliac, COVID-19, COVID-19 And Coeliac Disease, Vitamin B12