I said this early on. COVID-19 was a sincere worry, especially considering the neurological symptoms manifesting in patients, and that should be a profound reason to protect the public. The study is not peer reviewed and that matters, but, it is an indication investigative medicine needs to look further.
Why would physicians even be interested in cognitive tests with a virus? Because they were finding deficits in more than a few patients during the examination and they have to decide what to treat and with what.
October 27, 2020
People recovering from Covid-19 (click here) may suffer significant brain function impacts, with the worst cases of the infection linked to mental decline equivalent to the brain aging by 10 years, researchers warned on Tuesday.
A non-peer-reviewed study of more than 84,000 people, led by Adam Hampshire, a doctor at Imperial College London, found that in some severe cases, coronavirus infection is linked to substantial cognitive deficits for months. "Our analyses ... align with the view that there are chronic cognitive consequences of having Covid-19," the researchers wrote in a report of their findings. "People who had recovered, including those no longer reporting symptoms, exhibited significant cognitive deficits.
Cognitive tests measure how well the brain performs tasks –- such as remembering words or joining dots on a puzzle. Such tests are widely used to assess brain performance in diseases like Alzheimer's, and can also help doctors assess temporary brain impairments.
Hampshire's team analysed results from 84,285 people who completed a study called the Great British Intelligence Test. The findings, which have yet to be reviewed by other experts, were published online on the MedRxiv website.
cognitive deficits were "of substantial effect size", particularly among people who had been hospitalised with Covid-19, the researchers said, with the worst cases showing impacts "equivalent to the average 10-year decline in global performance between ages 20 to 70.
Scientists not directly involved in the study, however, said its results should be viewed with some caution....
