COVID-19 may increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease

Dr. Santosh KesariThere is no evidence that COVID-19 causes Alzheimer’s disease, said Dr., a neurologist at Providence St. John’s Health Center in California and regional medical director at the Providence Clinical Institute in Southern California.

“I want to be clear about that,” he told Healthline. “But this is in line with what we know about how inflammation makes things worse, including in the brain.” .”

“Alzheimer’s disease is a disease that develops over decades. , can be driven to the point that more help is needed.”

Heather SnyderPh.D., vice president of medical and scientific affairs at the Alzheimer’s Association, said the findings could have several explanations.

“First, the pandemic has caused serious delays in people seeking medical diagnoses like Alzheimer’s,” she told Healthline. It means that it could have been brought on by people who had been diagnosed with it but had not yet sought a formal diagnosis.”

“Alternatively, COVID-19 infection associated with immune alterations, including inflammation, may influence the development of brain alterations associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias,” she added.

“But since this study only showed an association through medical records, we won’t know without further research what the underlying mechanisms are driving this association,” Snyder said.

Kesari said an early diagnosis could have implications for both the health care system and families.

“Patients, caregivers, families, the health system too,” he said. “It can affect not only the economy, but also family support and family burdens.”

“Some of these patients could have been doing well at home. Now instead of waiting another five years to go to a nursing home, they so refused, we go right away.”

“If this increase in new diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease persists, the wave of new patients with the disease, which currently has no cure, could be substantial and further strain our long-term care resources.

This study data was collected before the widespread detection of highly contagious Delta and Omicron variants. Experts say it’s unclear how the strain affected the study’s results.

The number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is increasing rapidly in the United States. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 6 million Americans over the age of 65 have Alzheimer’s disease. By 2050, that number is projected to grow to nearly 13 million.

Researchers say they will continue to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 and dementia.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a serious and difficult disease, and I thought that by reducing common risk factors such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, we could change the trend somewhat. “There are so many people in the United States currently infected with COVID, and the long-term effects of COVID are still emerging. It is important that we continue to monitor the impact of this disease on future disability.

Meanwhile, experts say following public health guidelines is important for the most vulnerable, especially when it comes to vaccines.

“If everyone is vaccinated, even if they are at risk, they won’t get the bad COVID that can lead to dementia,” Kesari said. , we must take advantage of what we have learned about drugs that can reduce inflammation.”

Snyder agrees to the prevention message.

“As we work to better understand the lasting effects of COVID-19 on the brain, the key message for cognition protection is simple: follow public health recommendations,” she said. I got

“Just because you have COVID-19 doesn’t mean you’ll get dementia,” added Snyder. “But if you have COVID-19 and are experiencing long-term symptoms such as cognitive impairment, talk to your doctor.”