We all know that COVID-19 can lead to lingering fatigue and brain fog. But one of the most rigorous examinations to date of the long-term cognitive impacts of severe infection has just yielded some pretty unsettling results.
. But one of the most rigorous examinations to date of the long-term cognitive impacts of severe infection has just yielded some pretty unsettling results.In a study comparing 46 severe COVID-19 patients with 460 matched controls, researchers found the mental impacts of severe COVID-19 six months later can be the equivalent to aging 20 years – going from 50 to 70 years old – or losing 10 IQ points.
The new paper doesn't set out to alarm the many of us who've already had COVID, but instead investigate more closely how serious the cognitive changes are following severe cases of the infection, so we can begin to understand how to mitigate them. "Tens of thousands of people have been through intensive care with COVID-19 in England alone and many more will have been very sick, but not admitted to hospital,""This means there are a large number of people out there still experiencing problems with cognition many months later. We urgently need to look at what can be done to help these people."
The experiment involved 46 people who'd gone to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge as a result of COVID-19 between March and July 2020. Sixteen of them were put on mechanical ventilation during their stay. An average of six months after their infection, researchers supervised them using a testing tool called