COVID-19 can cause cognitive decline
(Baonghean.vn) - Problems with mental skills such as thinking, memory and learning are impaired after severe COVID-19 infection.
So said study leader Yan-Jiang Wang, MD, PhD, director of the Department of Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience Center at Daping Hospital in Chongqing, China.
The study, which compared rates of dementia and its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, in people who recovered from COVID-19 with those who were not infected, was published online March 8 in the journal JAMA Neurology.
Researchers identified nearly 1,500 people aged 60 and older who were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, 260 of whom were critically ill, and followed them six months and one year later to assess their cognitive function. The researchers also assessed the cognitive function of more than 400 spouses of hospitalized people who did not have COVID-19, as a comparison group.
Before they wereCOVID-19 infection, none of the study participants had cognitive problems, neurological disorders, or a family history of dementia, severe heart, liver, kidney disease, or cancer.
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| Illustration photo. Source: Everyday Health |
One year after leaving the hospital, 12.5% of COVID-19 survivors developed cognitive problems.
Dementia and mild cognitive impairment were significantly more common in people with severe COVID-19 than in those with non-severe or no cases.
About 15% of people with severe COVID-19 have dementia a year after discharge from hospital, and about 26% have mild cognitive impairment.
Less than 1% of people hospitalized with non-severe COVID-19 cases and those without the disease developed dementia, and about 5% of people in each group developed mild cognitive impairment.
Cognitive problems are common when people get sick with COVID-19. However, the long-term consequences of COVID-19 on mental abilities are still unclear. This study adds new information about cognitive changes in COVID-19 survivors, Wang said.
The fact that 21% of people with severe COVID-19 developed progressive cognitive impairment suggests that the disease can cause lasting damage to mental abilities, researchers say.
These findings imply that the pandemic could contribute significantly to the future global dementia burden, they added.