COVID-19 may cause dementia-like changes in brain

COVID-19 can cause brain changes in older people similar to those seen in Alzheimer's, an incurable form of dementia that can lead to death.

The results of the study, reported by MedicalXpress, may indicate an increased risk of neurodegenerative disease in those who have had coronavirus infection, regardless of the severity of the disease.

Experts analyzed the condition of elderly people in Argentina and identified changes in memory and thinking associated with Alzheimer's disease for at least 6 months after falling ill with coronavirus infection. Other researchers have found proteins associated with dementia in the blood of New Yorkers in whom COVID-19 caused neurological symptoms at an early stage.

According to the researchers, in the period from 3 to 6 months after being infected with the coronavirus, about 20 percent of the elderly people of the 300 people studied had problems with short-term memory. 34 percent had more serious impairments, including trouble finding words and difficulty with long-term memory.

The patients at highest risk had problems with their sense of smell. The olfactory region of the brain is directly linked to areas critical for memory, and loss of the ability to smell is sometimes an early sign of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

Another group of scientists tested over 300 elderly people hospitalized due to COVID-19. About half of them experienced neurological symptoms such as confusion. Experts have discovered a jump in the level of proteins in their blood, which is associated with inflammation of the nervous system, damage to brain cells characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.

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