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According to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, conducted by experts from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, those who contract Covid risk several neurological complications one year after infection. These include strokes, cognitive and memory problems, depression, anxiety, migraines and movement disorders. Let’s see the research in detail.
The effects of covid
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There are an estimated 40 million new cases of post-Covid neurological disorders worldwide. To say the researchers of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who among the main complications that emerged one year after the infection also found tremors and involuntary muscle contractions, epileptic seizures, hearing and vision abnormalities, balance difficulties and coordination and other symptoms similar to those of Parkinson’s disease. “Our study provides a comprehensive assessment of the long-term neurological consequences of Covid-19. Previous studies have looked at a narrower set of neurological outcomes, mostly in hospitalized patients. We evaluated 44 brain and other neurological disorders both among outpatients, as well as in inpatients, including those in intensive care. The results show the devastating long-term effects of Covid-19. The virus is not always as benign as some think, “said senior author Ziyad Al-Aly.
What the research says
“We are experiencing brain problems in previously healthy individuals and also among those who have had mild infections. It doesn’t matter if you are young or old, women or men, or if you smoke or not, or if you have other unhealthy habits or conditions” To arrive at this assessment, the researchers analyzed about 14 million medical records and created a controlled dataset of 154,000 people who tested positive since the start of the pandemic (March 1, 2020), until January 15. 2021, also comparing the data of 11 million individuals not infected by the virus divided into two control groups, with the neurological outcomes of those recovered from Covid. By examining the brain health of the infected sample for more than a year, it emerged that the conditions neurological patients affected 7% more healed sample than non-infected. Those who contracted the virus had a 77% higher risk of developing memory problems, a 50 % more to suffer from ischemic stroke, 80% more to suffer from seizures, 43% more to develop mental disorders such as anxiety or depression, 35% more to suffer from mild to severe headaches , 42% more likely to have movement disorders, 30% more likely to develop eye problems, such as blurred vision, dryness and inflammation of the retina, and 22% more likely to develop hearing abnormalities, such as tinnitus or ringing in the ears and, in addition, an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. “Our study provides a comprehensive account of the neurological consequences of COVID-19 one year after infection,” concluded Al-Aly.