in Silvia Turin
A new study measured the “cognitive fog” of 3,000 people two years after infection — comparable to the effect of increasing age by 10 years. But no decline in those who felt fully recovered after the virus
New evidence that long-term symptoms of Covid can also be cognitive and significantly impair mental processes.
I study
The “brain fog” effect has been described other times (we talked about it HERE, ed ): now a new study by King’s College London, published in eClinical Medicine, confirms it.
Researchers examined the mental performance of a group of 3,000 people participating in the COVID Symptom Study Biobank. Through 12 tasks, memory, attention, reasoning, processing speed and motor control were tested in two rounds of cognitive tests that took place in 2021 and 2022.
The results
Participants whose test scores were lower were those who had experienced virus-related symptoms of the longest duration (12 weeks or longer), ongoing symptoms (Long Covid), and/or more severe infection. In these people, falling ill with Covid cognitively had an effect comparable in size to 10 years of aging and the tests did not improve between the two cycles, nine months apart and almost two years after infection (average time between all subjects).
On the other hand, people who had felt completely healed after the infection had scores that were completely similar to those who had not contracted the virus and this even if they had had symptoms for several months and could be considered to have Long Covid.
July 27, 2023 (change July 27, 2023 | 3:23 pm)
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