Severe Covid-19 Cognitive Disorders Similar to 20 Years Old: Study

Cognitive impairment occurs when a person has problems with memory, learning new things, concentration, or decision making that affect their daily lives.

Latest findings published in the journal eClinicalMedicineThe effect is detectable more than 6 months after the acute illness, suggesting that recovery is at best gradual.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, UK, pointed out the growing evidence that: COVID-19 (new coronavirus infection) It can cause permanent cognitive and mental health problems.

Patients who recover with COVID-19 experience symptoms such as fatigue, “brain fog”, language recall problems, sleep disorders, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) months after infection. They said they were reporting.

This study analyzed data from 46 people who received in-hospital treatment for COVID-19 in the ward or intensive care unit. During hospitalization, as many as 16 patients wore ventilators.

Patients underwent a detailed computerized cognitive test on average 6 months after acute illness using the Cognitron platform, which measures various aspects of mental abilities such as memory, attention, and reasoning.

Scales for measuring anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorders were also evaluated. The data was compared with a matching control.

Survivors of COVID-19 were less accurate than the corresponding control population, had slower response times, and were detectable even when patients were followed up after 6 months, the researchers said.

They said the effect was strongest for those who needed mechanical artificial breathing.

By comparing patients with 66,008 members of the general public, researchers found that the magnitude of cognitive loss was similar to that that lasted on average between the ages of 20 and 50-70, which was 10 years. I presume that it is equivalent to losing. IQ points.

Survivors scored particularly low on tasks such as verbal analogy, a finding that supports the commonly reported problem of difficulty finding words.

They also showed slower processing speeds. This is consistent with previous post-COVID-19 observations of reduced cerebral glucose consumption within the frontal parietal network of the brain, which is involved in functions such as attention, complex problem solving, and working memory.

“Cognitive impairment is common to a wide range of neurological disorders, including dementia and routine aging, but the pattern we saw, the cognitive” fingerprint “of COVID-19, was different from all of these. “Professor David Menon said. Lead author of research at the University of Cambridge.

Although it is well established that people who have recovered from a severe COVID-19 illness may exhibit a wide range of symptoms in the poor. mental healthThe team found that the severity of acute illness was a good predictor of cognitive impairment.

Although patient scores and reaction times began to improve over time, researchers found that cognitive recovery was at best gradual, including the severity of the disease and its neurological or psychological consequences. He said he was likely to be affected by the factors.

“We followed some patients by 10 months after the acute infection, so we can see a very slow improvement. This was not statistically significant, but at least correct. We are heading in the direction, but it is very likely that some of these individuals will not fully recover, “Menon added.

There are several factors that can cause cognitive impairment, the researchers said.

They said direct viral infections were possible, but unlikely to be the major cause. A combination of factors such as inadequate oxygen or blood supply to the brain, obstruction of large or small blood vessels due to coagulation, and microscopic bleeding is likely to contribute.

However, new evidence suggests that the most important mechanism may be the body’s own inflammatory response and damage caused by the immune system.

The study examined hospitalized cases, but the team said that even patients who were not ill enough to be hospitalized may have obvious signs of mild disability.

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