A new study led by researchers at the University of Oxford revealed that one in eight of those recovering from corona may develop a neurological or psychological disease for the first time in their lives, 6 months after infection with the virus, and the study also found that patients who were transferred to the hospital are particularly vulnerable to psychological complications , Although patients who had not been admitted to hospital were more likely to have illnesses such as depression and stroke.
According to the "Insider" website, the results indicated the growing evidence that the Corona virus can lead to short and long-term cognitive and mental problems. The study included more than 200,000 patients with Corona virus in the United States.
To conduct the study, researchers looked at the health records of 236,379 coronavirus survivors in the United States and found that within 6 months, 33.6% of coronavirus survivors received a neurological or psychological diagnosis, and 13% of them received such a diagnosis for the first time.
Hospitalized patients, especially those who had experienced encephalopathy, a broad term describing the altered function or structures of the brain, were at particular risk of developing mental illness.
The researchers found that most cases - including stroke, intracranial bleeding, dementia, and psychotic disorders - were more common than a similar group of patients who had had the flu or a respiratory infection.
It was unlikely that it was the care of doctors that led to the increase in mental health diagnoses, the authors said.
While the researchers took into account factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, underlying conditions, and socioeconomic status, the study was still subject to some limitations.
It cannot prove cause and effect, for example, and electronic medical records are flawless. The first time a diagnosis is entered into a database is not always the first time a person is diagnosed, and records tend to lack descriptions of socio-economic factors and lifestyle factors.
However, when compared to the results of a study led by the same researcher looking at neurological complications three months after Corona was diagnosed, the study helps fill in the picture of the most common brain-based conditions at different stages of survival.
"For a diagnosis of stroke or intracranial hemorrhage, the risk tends to decrease dramatically within six months, but for a small number of neuropsychiatric diagnoses, we don't have an answer as to when it will stop," Dr. Max Tackett of the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University told the Guardian. "
Researchers are still discovering why the virus could have widespread and long-lasting neurological consequences
Previous studies have shown how corona can have widespread cognitive and neurological consequences, including head and muscle pain, confusion, dizziness, seizures, strokes, brain swelling and delirium.
Survivors also reported terrifying hallucinations, problems coordinating muscle movement, and memory lapses.
Experts continue to search for the reasons why a virus that was previously believed to infect the entire respiratory system causes such damage to the brain.
It is understood that the nervous system could be affected by corona, for example, if the effect of the virus on the lungs and heart makes it difficult to get enough oxygen to the brain, and this in turn could contribute to the strokes that some Corona patients suffered.
And some researchers said that the virus may also infect the brain directly, and the reaction of the immune system to it can cause inflammation that damages the brain and nerves.
Some experts fear that for some survivors, some of the effects could be permanent, or even lead to another epidemic of brain damage.
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