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- BBC News World
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Image source, Getty Images
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Anosmia or loss of smell, headache, anxiety, depression and other psychological and neurological symptoms are common in people suffering from severe cases of Covid-19 as well as milder cases.
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This is what a meta-analysis of 215 COVID-19 studies from 30 countries revealed, which included a total of 105,638 people with acute symptoms of the disease.
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“It was actually something that surprised us. One would expect these symptoms to appear in the most serious cases, but it was not what we found, and we even saw the opposite in the case of some of these symptoms,” Jonathan Rogers explains to BBC Mundo , researcher at University College London and author of the research.
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“Apparently, the covid-19 affects mental health and the brain is the norm rather than the exception“.
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The most common neurological and psychiatric symptoms were anosmia (43%), weakness (40%), fatigue (38%), loss of taste (37%), muscle pain (25%), depression (23%), headache (21 %) and anxiety (16%).
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Rogers believes that a possible explanation why symptoms such as headache or anosmia occur to a greater extent in mild cases is that it is very likely that a patient who “is being transferred to an intensive unit because he cannot breathe, does not report something like a headache. ”
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In some cases, neurological or psychiatric symptoms can appear first or even be the only manifestation of the disease, he says.
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“Research on delirium, especially in the elderly, shows that this may be the first sign of covid-19, even before respiratory symptoms appear,” says the researcher.
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While some of the symptoms are also associated with other respiratory infections – such as anosmia or myalgia – others such as anxiety or depression are more common in covid-19 than for example in the flu.
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According to the study, there are also other more serious neurological conditions, although they are rarer; among others, ischemic stroke (1.9%), hemorrhagic stroke (0.4%) and seizures (0.06%).
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Causes
While the study did not focus on causes, the researchers believe that there are a number of factors that can explain both neurological and psychological symptoms.
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“Some of the evidence shows that they are not produced because the virus invades the nerve cells, that is something very rare, but the inflammation than covid-19 cause in the bloodstream it’s probably a contributing factor, “says Rogers.
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Image source, Getty Images
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Fatigue and headache are two reported symptoms.
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“It certainly contributes to delirium and probably depression and anxiety,” he adds.
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Another element is the brain hypoxia (the reduction in the supply of oxygen to the brain), and finally social and psychological factors.
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Rogers refers to getting SARS-CoV-2 in the context of the pandemic can make the patient worry about the development of his disease (being admitted to an ICU or the possibility of dying), and feel the impact of being isolated from his family, and of not establishing the usual interaction with the hospital staff.
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Although more studies are needed to better understand these links, the researcher concludes.
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