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If you’ve survived Corona, you’re far from healthy. Numerous study report severe long-term consequences of covid infection. And the list keeps getting longer! The largest study to date on long-term mental effects warns of a significantly higher risk for numerous mental and neurological disorders.
Stroke, dementia, depression and psychosis – these are just some of the psychological and neurological diseases whose risk is significantly increased by covid infection. That’s what a British study has found, examining long-term consequences in Corona-Geneseen patients. About one-third were diagnosed with a neurological or psychological disorder within just six months.
44 percent higher risk than with flu
The just-published study, considered the largest of its kind to date, analyzed digital health data from more than 236,000 Covid 19 patients* in the United States. The British research team compared this data with that of other patients suffering from a different respiratory disease during the same period. It found that 34 percent of those recovered from Corona, or one in three, received a diagnosis of a neurological or psychological disorder within six months. Among people who had to be treated in the intensive care unit, as many as 39 percent were affected.
Further, it showed that people who had corona had a 44 percent higher risk of neurological and psychological disorders than people recovering from influenza. Compared with other respiratory illnesses, those recovering from Covid still had a 16 percent higher risk.
Anxiety and affective disorders most prevalent
The research team focused on 14 common psychological and neurological conditions for the study. The most common diagnosis was “Anxiety,” or fear and anxiety. Seventeen percent of Covid’s recovered patients suffered from it. Affective disorder was diagnosed in 14 percent. This is a group of mental disorders characterized by extreme moods. They include depression, bipolar disorder, burnout and mania. An average of one in 50 people recovered also suffered a cerebral infarction, where a blood clot affects the brain. Strokes and dementia were also diagnosed more frequently.
However, two of the 14 psychological and neurological conditions reviewed did not show an increased risk compared with recovered persons with other respiratory conditions: Parkinson’s disease and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Stress and biological aspects likely triggers
The researchers suggest that anxiety and affect disorders were probably triggered by stress and the experience of being seriously ill or even having to be hospitalized. Strokes and dementia, on the other hand, are probably results of the virus itself or the body’s defensive response.
Other research supports the current findings. In February, a smaller study had already examined 381 Covid patients who had been hospitalized in Rome. Thirty percent were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after recovery.
- picture: pixabay.com
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