According to a recent study, even mild cases of COVID-19 can leave lasting effects on the human brain.
In August, researchers at the University of Oxford in England and Imperial College London wrote that brain imaging from the UK Biobank – which includes data from more than 40,000 people in the UK, dating of 2014 – found significant differences in gray matter between these people. The difference in thickness is indicated. Those who have been infected with COVID-19 and those who have not.
The team said that by using both hypothesis-based and exploratory approaches, with multiple comparison correction for the rate of false discoveries, they identified 68 and 67 significant longitudinal effects, respectively, associated with the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the brain.
In the COVID-19 group, there was a reduction in gray matter tissue in the frontal and temporal lobes and the change in gray matter volume in the general population was larger than normal in 401 infected people.
The results for those who were severe enough to require hospitalization were similar for those who suffered minor infections with a significant reduction in gray matter thickness in both cases.
Additionally, participants infected with SARS-CoV-2 also showed greater cognitive decline during the trial and were slower to process information compared to those who did not contract the virus – a control group of 384 people.
The researchers matched the groups based on age, sex, date of baseline trial, and location of study, among other common risk factors for the disease.
Notably, the study has not yet been reviewed and a caveat indicates that it should not be used to guide clinical practice.
While it is too early to draw conclusions about the long-term effects of coronavirus-related changes, these findings have raised concerns about its effects on biological changes, including aging.
In a recent study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the agency found that adults with COVID-19 had other lifelong health problems such as fatigue, loss of smell or taste and shortness of breath. can.
Symptoms can last a month or more, the CDC warns, and include cognitive dysfunction in the form of forgetfulness, memory loss, or “brain fog.”
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