Covid-19 can put you at risk for long-term brain fog, dementia, and other neuropsychiatric disorders’ research shows
Neurological and psychiatric disorders are one of the worrisome consequences of COVID-19, according to a new study.
Oxford University researchers reported last year that one in three patients developed a mood disorder, stroke or dementia six months after contracting the coronavirus.
Now researchers have published a new long-term analysis of 1.25 million Covid patient datasets. Known as the largest of its kind, the study also included data on children and several new variants.
According to the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the risk of developing neurological and psychiatric disorders such as psychosis, dementia, brain fog and seizures remains high compared to other respiratory infections up to two years after infection.
A report from the Oxford Medical Center for Biomedical Research, published Wednesday in the Lancet Psychiatry, says.
Anxiety and depression are more likely to occur immediately after a diagnosis of COVID-19 but tend to resolve within the first two months, as after a flu-like infection.
Research has shown that data on children show that children are less likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression by the age of two, and the risk of brain fog disappears.
However, the risk of developing seizures and psychotic disorders is significantly higher than in children who have had other respiratory infections.
Viewing how the different variants affected health risks, the probability of neuropsychiatric diagnoses increased, from 10% higher for anxiety to 38% for brain fog, if one was infected with the Delta variant as compared to the alpha version.
Similar results were discovered for the Omicron variant, even though it is relatively milder.
Dr Max Taquet, who conducted the analysis at Oxford University, said:, “The findings shed new light on the longer-term mental and brain health consequences for people following COVID-19 infection.
The results have implications for patients and health services and highlight the need for more research to understand why this happens after COVID-19, and what can be done to prevent these disorders from occurring, or treat them when they do.”
The study shows that adults under the age of 65 with a history of COVID-19 infection for up to two years suffer from brain fog (640 versus 550 cases per 10,000) and muscle disorders (44 versus 32). cases per 10,000 population).
Over the same period, adults aged 65 years and older with COVID-19 were more likely to be diagnosed with brain fog (1540 vs 1230 per 10,000). Dementia (450 vs 330 per 10,000) and psychotic disorders (85 vs 60 per 10,000).
Children with Covid were more likely to have seizures (260 versus 130 per 10,000 children) and psychotic disorders (18 versus 6 per 10,000 children).
Regarding study limitations, the researchers caution that these studies may be underrepresented in self-diagnosed and asymptomatic cases, as they are not usually included.
It also does not address the severity or duration of illness after COVID-19.