There are More Signs of Brain Damage in People with Severe Covid-19 than in Alzheimer’s Patients

February 08, 2022, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Two years into the global COVID pandemic we are learning more about the long-term impacts of the virus. In this case, it’s for those who were unfortunate enough to have severe SARS-CoV-2.

What Are COVID Symptoms?
 

For those people who acquire COVID the symptoms are mild, especially in vaccinated populations, and include severe sore throat, cough, runny nose, and malaise. Loss of taste and smell are common as well. Many people end up in bed for a week or so and require the usual bed rest and over-the-counter medications.

People who get a severe case of COVID the illness symptoms will require hospitalization. This can occur due to lung damage, respiratory failure and pneumonia that results from the virus. Early on doctors and nurses began to notice that there were neurological impairments that occurred commonly in the same patients.

What Neurological Symptoms are Being Presented?
 

Neurological symptoms experienced by patients include everything from Guillain-Barr Syndrome, seizures, stroke, encephalitis and foggy brain. These findings have sparked considerable research into whether those with COVID-19 with newly presenting neurological symptoms in the hospital have elevated blood markers which indicate neurological damage.

The Research and What It Found

NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers recently presented their findings in the Alzheimer’s and Dementia journal.

They determined that when they checked the brain biomarker levels there is a significant increase which correlates with the severity of COVID-190 and this increase is associated with an increase in the risk of developing further neurodegenerative disease.

They also found that the most common neurological complications were:

• 63% had toxic metabolic encephalopathy
• 46% had brain injury due to reduced oxygen or blood flow
• 6 months to one year post hospitalization half of the patients had persistent cognitive dysfunction

The researchers noted several limitations to their study including not being aware of patients who had undiagnosed neurological issues, biomarkers were only measured at one point in time and there is no trajectory on the biomarkers, and the limited sample size. They note that “Additional studies tracking trajectories of these biomarkers over time and their association with long-term cognitive outcomes among COVID-19 survivors are warranted.”

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.