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.
Comments closedComments closedTaken 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.
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.
Comments closedIt’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.
Comments closedScientific 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).
Comments closedIt’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.
Comments closedFrom 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.
Comments closedThere 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.
Comments closedThe 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.
Comments closedCOVID-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.
Comments closedSome people experience lingering cognitive decline, with degree of impairment linked to illness severity.
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