Are COVID-19 infections more likely to cause depression and memory loss? Research: May be related to brain lesions caused by hypoxia
Are you more likely to suffer from depression and memory loss after contracting the epidemic? Virus may cause cerebrovascular disease
COVID-19 virus infection may not only cause severe illness and death, but may still cause serious sequelae even if recovered after treatment. The neuroimaging team of the IRCCS San Raffaele Institute of Science in Italy tracked COVID-19 infected patients from the subacute phase after hospitalization to 10 months after discharge. A certain proportion developed cognitive function changes, depression, mood disorders, and trauma. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), some symptoms persist even after the infection has resolved.
The study was published at the 2021 European Association of Neurological Diseases (EAN). Study author Dr. Elisa Canu said that in previous research statistics, about 30% of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 had cognitive impairment, and 30%-40% had mental illness. Pathological disorders, including symptoms such as anxiety and depression. Through neuroimaging observations, these brain disorders caused by infection are related to the severity of respiratory symptoms in the acute phase, neuroinflammation caused by viral infection, and cerebrovascular lesions.
Researchers investigated the physical changes of 49 infected people who were confirmed by emergency department at 2 months and 10 months after infection. The average age of the subjects was 61 years old (between 40 and 75 years old), 73% were male, and most of them were male. There was more than one cardiovascular risk factor, including hypertension (55%), smoking (22%), and dyslipidemia (18%).
Research shows that about 71% of infected people have neurological abnormalities when hospitalized, 59% have loss of taste, 45% have hyposmia, 39% have headaches, 20% are confused and tired, and 27% receive respirator treatment. Two months after discharge, approximately 53% of patients developed at least one cognitive problem, including difficulty in executive function, inability to concentrate, and decreased planning and problem-solving abilities. In addition, some patients also experience symptoms such as memory loss and visual-spatial judgment impairment.
The degree of cerebral hypoxia during hospitalization affects cognitive dysfunction after recovery
The research team pointed out that if the patient develops more severe respiratory symptoms and hypoxia problems during hospitalization, it may aggravate subsequent cognitive impairment. When the brain’s oxygen concentration is insufficient, it can cause confusion, headaches, brain fog, and cognitive impairment. Therefore, infection with COVID-19 may cause white matter hyperintensities and cause subsequent changes in cognitive function.
Elisa Canu said that people diagnosed with COVID-19 may already have cardiovascular risk factors. After being infected with the virus, hypoxia may cause brain white matter lesions, leading to more obvious symptoms such as memory impairment. In addition, the correlation between cognitive dysfunction and mental status cannot be ruled out. For example, patients with post-traumatic symptoms (PTSD) are more likely to have changes in attention and memory.
The research team reported that after COVID-19 confirmed patients recovered, the proportion of cognitive symptoms dropped from 53% to 36%, and symptoms of executive dysfunction (EFD, editor’s note: Executive function is controlled by the prefrontal cortex of the brain, helping individuals analyze, Plan, organize, formulate, adjust, complete) are the most common. 15% of patients continued to suffer from depression, and 18% of patients continued to suffer from PTSD.
Is cognitive impairment reversible? Exercise may help
It is worth noting that Elisa Canu said that it is currently unknown whether these changes in cognitive function are directly related to the infection with the virus, nor can it be determined whether they are reversible or part of the patient’s own neurological degeneration. The research team plans to continue to follow the recovered patients to explore whether their cognitive and psychological disorders can be improved through other methods.
In its conclusion, the research team stated that neuropsychological and neurological monitoring of COVID-19 infected patients is necessary, and that appropriate cognitive stimulation and exercise training (especially outdoors) may help patients.
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