One in eight people who have recovered from COVID-19 are diagnosed according to their new psychiatric or neurological disease within six months after being tested positive for the defect.
Researchers who examined 236,379 coronavirus survivors found that numbers rose to one in three when people with a previous history of psychiatric or neurological diseases were included, the Guardian reports.
In addition, the study found that one in nine patients was also diagnosed with conditions such as depression or stroke, despite not going to a hospital when they were infected, according to lead author, dr. Max Taquet, of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford.
The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, used electronic health records to evaluate U.S. and non-hospitalized patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis recovering.
According to the newspaper, the subjects were compared to a group diagnosed with influenza, and another one diagnosed with respiratory infections between January 20 and December 13, 2020.
Their analysis took into account factors such as age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and any underlying physical and mental conditions.
According to the results, the probability that a COVID-19 survivor would develop a psychiatric or neurological disease within six months; the study found that nearly 13 percent of the survivors were diagnosed at that time.
The researchers also found that most diagnoses are more common after coronavirus attacks than with flu or other respiratory infections – including stroke, intracranial haemorrhage, dementia and psychotic disorders.
In general, COVID-19 was associated with an increased risk for these diagnoses, but the incidence was greater among those in need of hospital treatment, and significantly also among patients who developed brain diseases, reports the Guardian.
Asked how long these conditions could last after diagnosis, Taquet said at the outlet: “I do not think we have another answer to the question.”
He added: “For diagnoses such as a stroke or intracranial haemorrhage, the risk tends to be quite dramatic within six months … but for some neurological and psychiatric diagnoses we do not have the answer as to when it will stop.”
Although the study does not prove that COVID-19 is directly behind the psychiatric and neurological conditions, research suggests that the defect may have an impact on the brain and central nervous system.
Dr Tim Nicholson, a psychiatrist and clinical lecturer at King’s College Hospital who was not involved in the study, said the results would help researchers decide which neurological and psychiatric complications require further thorough study.
“I think in particular it raises some deviations on the list of interests, especially dementia and psychosis … and pushes some further down the list of potential interests, including Guillain-Barré syndrome,” he told the Guardian .
Meanwhile, another study found that the coronavirus could remain in the brains of seriously ill patients and cause relapses among those who thought they had recovered.
Researchers at Georgia State University have discovered that the infection of mice through the nose by the virus has led to a rapid, increasing attack on the brain that has caused serious illness.
Assistant professor Mukesh Kumar, the lead researcher, said the findings had implications for understanding the wide range of symptoms and the severity of illnesses among people who contract the disease.
“We think it’s more of a respiratory disease is not necessarily true,” Kumar said. ‘Once it infects the brain, it can affect anything because the brain controls your lungs, heart and everything. The brain is a very sensitive organ. It is the central processor for everything. ”
The study was published in the journal Viruses.