Four and a half years after the outbreak of the pandemic, many people’s fear of Corona has subsided. But the virus is and will remain with us.
British researchers have now investigated how an infection can affect our brain. The results are alarming!
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“After hospitalization for Covid-19, many people report persistent cognitive symptoms, often referred to as ‘brain fog’,” says Greta Wood from the University of Liverpool, who co-authored the study with King’s College London. “However, it was unclear whether there was objective evidence of cognitive impairment and, if so, whether there was biological evidence of brain damage; and, most importantly, whether patients recover over time.”
Also the scientists investigated 351 Covid-19 patients who had to be treated in a clinic. Both blood tests and MRI scans of the brain showed that cognitive abilities were significantly worse twelve to 18 months after the corona infection than in controlled patients without the corresponding illness.
In the former Covid patients, increased markers for brain injuries were detected in the blood, as well as a reduced volume in the front part of the cerebral cortex. This area is called the cingulate cortex and controls several higher brain functions.
“These persistent cognitive deficits occurred in both hospital patients with and without clinical neurological complications,” said study author Benedict Michael. “This suggests that Covid-19 alone can cause cognitive impairment without a neurological diagnosis being made.”
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Another alarming finding: “It is striking that the cognitive deficits found in this study after Covid corresponded to 20 years of normal aging.”
However, the researchers also emphasize: “It is important to emphasize that these were patients who […] had to go to the hospital and that these results did not […] should be transferred to all people with Covid experience.”
Further investigations should now follow. Among other things, to see whether such brain impairments also occur in other infectious diseases.
German university director criticizes the study
There is now also criticism of the British study. Prof. Christoph Kleinschnitz, Director of Neurology at Essen University Hospital, says to BILD: “A very recent meta-analysis in the journal JNPP, which analyzed 54 studies on the subject of cognitive deficits in post-COVID, came to the conclusion that, if at all , are only very mild. And interestingly, they were only observed in patients who already had psychiatric illnesses, such as depression or an anxiety disorder.”
The expert emphasizes: “This suggests that the cognitive deficits do not come from post-Covid at all, but from these previous psychiatric illnesses in which such cognitive deficits have been known very well and for a long time.”
