According to a new study, one in eight people who have recovered from COVID-19 is diagnosed with their first psychiatric or neurological illness within six months after testing positive for the error.
Researchers who surveyed 236,379 coronavirus survivors found that the numbers rose to one in three when people with a history of psychiatric or neurological illnesses were included, The Guardian reported.
In addition, the study found that one in nine patients was also diagnosed with diseases such as depression or stroke despite not going to a hospital when they became infected, according to the lead author, Dr. Max Taquet, of the Department of Psychiatry, University. of Oxford.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, used electronic health records to evaluate inpatients and outpatients in the United States with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 who recovered.
Subjects were compared with one group diagnosed with influenza and another with a diagnosis of respiratory tract infections between January 20 and December 13, 2020, according to the media.
His analysis took into account factors such as age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and any underlying physical and mental condition.
According to the results, the probability that a COVID-19 survivor would develop a psychiatric or neurological illness within six months was 33.6 percent; the study found that nearly 13% of survivors received a diagnosis in this time period.
The researchers also found that most diagnoses were more common after coronavirus attacks than after the flu or other respiratory infections, including strokes, intracranial bleeding, dementia, and psychotic disorders.
Overall, COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk of these diagnoses, but the incidence was higher among those in need of hospital treatment and significantly among patients who developed brain disease, The Guardian reported. .
When asked how long these conditions could last after diagnosis, Taquet told the dam. “I don’t think we have an answer to that question yet.”
He added: “For diagnoses like a stroke or intracranial bleeding, the risk tends to decrease dramatically in six months … but for some neurological and psychiatric diagnoses we don’t have the answer as to when it will stop.”
Although the study does not show that COVID-19 is directly behind psychiatric and neurological conditions, research suggests that the error may have an impact on the brain and central nervous system.
Dr. Tim Nicholson, a psychiatrist and clinical professor at King’s College Hospital who did not participate in the study, said the results would help researchers decide which neurological and psychiatric complications require more careful study.
“I think this particularly raises some disorders on the interest list, especially dementia and psychosis … and pushes it a little further into the list of potential importance, including Guillain-Barré syndrome,” he told The Guardian .
Meanwhile, another study has found that coronavirus can remain in the brains of seriously ill patients and cause relapses among those who believed they had recovered.
Researchers at Georgia State University found that infecting the nasal passages of mice with the virus caused a rapid, escalating attack on the brain that triggered serious illness.
Assistant Professor Mukesh Kumar, the lead researcher, said the findings have implications for understanding the wide range of symptoms and severity of the disease among people who contract the disease.
“Our thinking that this is more of a respiratory illness is not necessarily true,” Kumar said. “Once it infects the brain, it can affect anything because the brain controls the lungs, the heart and everything. The brain is a very sensitive organ. It’s the central processor of everything.”
This study has been published in the journal Viruses.