Press "Enter" to skip to content

Tag: cognitive decline

Topic: data suppressionView all posts for the topic: data suppression

There’s a gaping hole in Canada’s COVID tracking

Published August 22, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Toronto Star
Published on:
By Iris Gorfinkel

The Government of Canada’s website tracks the number of hospitalizations and deaths from acute COVID-19. What it fails to include are the hospitalizations and deaths that result from COVID’s longer-term health consequences.

Even mild cases carry risk, but COVID most frequently wallops people after severe cases, especially when hospitalized. Of the nearly 300,000 Canadians hospitalized so far, over half likely have — or will — suffer life-changing health consequences, sometimes years after having recovered from the acute illness. These risks climb with repeated infections.

Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are often delayed. Like high blood pressure, SARS CoV-2 can gradually damage the inner lining of blood vessels. This by itself, is painless. While it happens to people following mild cases of COVID, it’s far more likely after severe ones, especially after hospitalization. This doubles the downstream risk of having a heart attack, stroke or blood clot in the lung. It triples the risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm, including atrial fibrillation.

Continue readingThere’s a gaping hole in Canada’s COVID tracking
Comments closed
Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Video | Akiko Iwasaki on what causes long COVID, brain fog, the Yale Paxlovid study and long COVID treatments

Published April 26, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: American Medical Association (AMA)
Published on:

What causes long COVID? Is long COVID dangerous? Who is most likely to get long COVID? Any pediatric long COVID news? What can be done for long term COVID?

Our guest is Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, Sterling Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University. AMA Chief Experience Officer Todd Unger hosts.

Continue readingVideo | Akiko Iwasaki on what causes long COVID, brain fog, the Yale Paxlovid study and long COVID treatments
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

Radio | COVID infections are causing drops in IQ and years of brain aging, studies suggest

Published April 12, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC Radio | Quirks and Quarks
Published on:
By Amanda Buckiewicz

When COVID-19 first reared its head back in 2019, it brought with it a slew of strange symptoms beyond just respiratory problems. One of the most puzzling symptoms in those early days was something called “brain fog” — cognitive issues like confusion, forgetfulness, and trouble focusing.

And while other symptoms have changed as the virus mutated, brain fog is still a common complaint of COVID sufferers not only during the initial illness, but extending for months or even years afterwards. Several recent studies have been trying to understand exactly what this virus is doing to our brains — and how to stop it.

Continue readingRadio | COVID infections are causing drops in IQ and years of brain aging, studies suggest
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive declineView all posts for the topic: cognitive decline

COVID Linked to Lower IQ, Poor Memory and Other Negative Impacts on Brain Health

Published March 24, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: People
Published on:
By Erin Clack

Taken together, these studies show that COVID-19 poses a serious risk to brain health, even in mild cases, and the effects are now being revealed at the population level. […]

The growing body of research now confirms that COVID-19 should be considered a virus with a significant impact on the brain. The implications are far-reaching, from individuals experiencing cognitive struggles to the potential impact on populations and the economy.

— Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly
Continue readingCOVID Linked to Lower IQ, Poor Memory and Other Negative Impacts on Brain Health
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

COVID’s toll on the brain: new clues emerge

Published March 20, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Nature
Published on:
By Claudia López Lloreda

Loss of smell, headaches, memory problems: COVID-19 can bring about a troubling storm of neurological symptoms that make everyday tasks difficult. Now new research adds to the evidence that inflammation in the brain might underlie these symptoms.

Not all data point in the same direction. Some new studies suggest that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, directly infects brain cells. Those findings bolster the hypothesis that direct infection contributes to COVID-19-related brain problems. But the idea that brain inflammation is key has gotten fresh support: one study, for example, has identified specific brain areas prone to inflammation in people with COVID-19.

Continue readingCOVID’s toll on the brain: new clues emerge
Comments closed
Topic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response

Video | Four years in, Dr. Raj Bhardwaj discusses how far we’ve come in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020

Published March 19, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC News
Published on:

CBC Calgary’s weekly health columnist, Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, discusses what we’ve learned and how far we’ve come with science and treatments since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Continue readingVideo | Four years in, Dr. Raj Bhardwaj discusses how far we’ve come in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020
Comments closed
Topic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response

Radio | Dr. Raj Bhardwaj on COVID-19

Published March 19, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CBC
Published on:
By Calgary Eyeopener with Loren McGinnis, Angela Knight

It’s been four years since the world shut down due to COVID-19. House doctor Raj Bhardwaj joins us with a look at what we have learned about the virus since those early days.

Continue readingRadio | Dr. Raj Bhardwaj on COVID-19
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive declineView all posts for the topic: cognitive decline

Des déclins cognitifs constatés après une infection à la COVID-19

Published March 7, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: Radio-Canada
Published on:
By Mélanie Meloche-Holubowski

Scientific evidence about the long-term effects of COVID-19 continues to accumulate. Two new studies involving hundreds of thousands of people suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infections can cause cognitive decline.

Researchers at Imperial College, London recruited nearly 113,000 Britons previously infected with the COVID-19 virus for their study. These individuals engaged in various cognitive exercises to assess their memory and their faculties of concentration and attention. Their results were compared to those of people never infected.

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that the coronavirus is believed to impair cognitive abilities and the intelligence quotient (IQ).

Continue readingDes déclins cognitifs constatés après une infection à la COVID-19
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

Long covid may cause cognitive decline of about six IQ points, study finds

Published February 29, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Washington Post
Published on:
By Victoria Bisset

It’s more than four years since the first cases of covid-19 were identified — but many of its longer-term effects, including for those living with long covid, remain unclear.

Now, a new study has some worrying findings that suggest covid may have longer-term effects on cognition and memory — and that these lead to measurable differences in cognitive performance.

The study, published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that participants who recovered from covid symptoms had a cognitive deficit equivalent to three IQ points compared with those who were never infected, while participants suffering from unresolved covid symptoms lasting 12 weeks or more experienced a loss equivalent to six IQ points.

Continue readingLong covid may cause cognitive decline of about six IQ points, study finds
Comments closed
The eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or autoimmune disorders?
Topic: neurodegenerative diseasesView all posts for the topic: neurodegenerative diseases

The eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or autoimmune disorders?

Published November 21, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: ABC News
Published on:
By Catherine Taylor

From the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have raised concerns about the potential for long-term health problems linked to SARS-CoV-2 and warned repeated infections are likely to increase the risk.

An association between COVID and cardiovascular disease emerged quickly.

And now — almost exactly four years since the first case was discovered in Wuhan — a growing body of scientific research is cautiously linking the inflammation caused by a COVID infection to diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well as autoimmune conditions from bowel disease to rheumatoid arthritis.

Continue readingThe eighth COVID-19 wave is here. Could catching it trigger Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or autoimmune disorders?
Comments closed
Topic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues

Can’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog

Published November 13, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The New York Times
Published on:
By Francesca Paris

There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems — with remembering, concentrating or making decisions — than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows.

The increase started with the pandemic: The number of working-age adults reporting “serious difficulty” thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people.

Continue readingCan’t Think, Can’t Remember: More Americans Say They’re in a Cognitive Fog
Comments closed

Scientists Are Just Beginning to Understand COVID-19’s Effect On the Brain

Published July 17, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Time

July 17, 2023

The list of neurocognitive issues that Meropol’s team and other researchers must track is extensive: cognitive decline, changes in brain size and structure, depression and suicidal thinking, tremors, seizures, memory loss, and new or worsened dementia have all been linked to previous SARS-CoV-2 infections. In some cases, these longer-term problems occur even in patients with relatively mild COVID-19.

Continue readingScientists Are Just Beginning to Understand COVID-19’s Effect On the Brain
Comments closed
Topic: neurodegenerative diseasesView all posts for the topic: neurodegenerative diseases

COVID-19 positive patients at higher risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders, new study shows

Published June 25, 2022

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: EurekAlert! / AAAS
Published on:

COVID-19 positive outpatients are at an increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders compared with individuals who tested negative for the virus, a new study presented today at the 8th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress has shown.

The study, which analysed the health records of over half of the Danish population, found that those who had tested positive for COVID-19 were at an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ischaemic stroke.

Continue readingCOVID-19 positive patients at higher risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders, new study shows
Comments closed