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Covid 19 related brain damage

COVID-19 After Effects Can Include Long Term Brain Damage

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It’s no secret that COVID-19 has been claiming lives. However, the discussion and discovery of long term health effects is just beginning. Doctors in a large Chicago medical center found that more than 40% of patients with COVID showed neurologic manifestations at the outset, and more than 30% of those had impaired cognition. Sometimes the neurological manifestations can be devastating and even lead to death.

New evidence is now indicating that long-term neurological effects could exist in those who survive infections with COVID and may be effecting more than seven million Americans and another 27 million people around the world. Increasing evidence that there may be moderate, but very significant, brain damage that occurs in many survivors is extremely alarming, causing pervasive yet subtle cognitive, behavioural, and psychological issues.
 

How the virus damages the brain

COVID may trigger encephalitis and affect the brain, which can have devastating or even subtle effects.  In one British sample of 12 encephalitis patients, one had a total recovery, 10 had a partial recovery, and one died. This research also showed that strokes were suffered in a majority of patients with COVID. COVID-19 is actually considered a risk factor for strokes.
A group of Canadian physicians discovered that people over 70 years of age were especially at high risk of COVID-related stroke, but even young adults are seven times more likely to experience a stroke from COVID-19 than a typical flu virus.
 
Autopsy evidence from COVID patients in Finland shows that lack of oxygen is another significant source of brain injury. It is especially worrisome because during the process of their COVID infection, some of the patients who were autopsied did not exhibit any symptoms of brain injuries, and all had brain damage. There was loss of taste in one patient and “minimal respiratory distress” in two, but neither of these patients were known to have any brain injury when they were alive.

Potential Side Effects of COVID Infection

In survivors of intensive care unit (ICU) stays, one-third of people display such a profound degree of cognitive disability that output on neuropsychological testing is equivalent to those with mild traumatic brain injury. Long-term psychological consequences of ICU stays that are frequently seen, include anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is expected that the effects due to COVID ICU stays will be comparable.

What about less severe infections, do they still have the same potential for brain damage or harm?

A Chinese group of doctors and researchers examined several aspects of cognitive function in 29 individuals who were thought to have fully recovered from COVID infection. They found persistent impairment in sustained attention — the ability to attend to important information for as long as it is relevant.

The Take-Away

It is clear and unfortunate that COVID infection frequently leads to brain damage — particularly in those over 70. While sometimes the brain damage is obvious and leads to major cognitive impairment, more frequently the damage is mild, leading to difficulties with sustained attention. It is definitely something to continue to educate ourselves about and continue to do our due diligence to stay safe and stop the spread of COVID-19.

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