Recent research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, revealed that Covid-19 Prolonged illness may be associated with a measurable decline in cognitive function, especially in areas such as memory, reasoning and planning. The study examined the results of cognitive tests performed on a significant sample of nearly 113,000 people in England.
Long Covid causes decline in cognitive function
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About 46,000 of them, or 41%, said they had never had Covid. Another 46,000 people who were infected with the coronavirus said their illness lasted less than four weeks.
The results indicated that individuals who had persistent post-Covid symptoms scored about six IQ points lower than those who never contracted the virus. Even among those infected who no longer showed symptoms, there was a score of about three IQ points lower compared to those who were not infected, even though the duration of the illness was brief. Ao Globo, the neuropsychologist James C. Jacksoncommented on the study: “These emerging and coalescing findings generally highlight that yes, cognitive impairment in long Covid survivors is a real phenomenon.”
While experts stress that these results do not necessarily imply that coronavirus infection or the development of long Covid causes serious deficits in thinking and cognitive function, they highlight the importance of these findings. The results provide numerical evidence for the cognitive problems that many face as a sequelae of the disease, such as brain fog and memory difficulties.
An encouraging finding from the study was the suggestion that if Covid symptoms lessen over time, cognitive impairment may also lessen. People who recovered after months of symptoms achieved similar cognitive scores to those who had a faster recovery.
However, questions remain about the long-term effects of these small cognitive deficits, including their potential impact on the risk of dementia later in life. In addition, researchers are also exploring other factors that may influence cognitive scores in Covid patients, aiming for a more complete understanding of the disease’s impacts.
*text under the supervision of Tomaz Belluomini
