Study Suggests One-Third Covid-19 Survivors are Affected by Neurological or Mental Disorders

Neurological issues in the covid survivors according to research...learn more...

Friday, 9th April 2021

A recent study showed that one in three Covid-19 survivors have been diagnosed with a brain or psychiatric disorder within six months after getting infected with the virus.

The study was conducted on more than 230,000 patients, mostly in America, and suggested that the coronavirus pandemic could bring about a ripple of mental and neurological issues, as per scientists.

According to researchers linked with the study, out of the 14 disorders, they were analyzed, the most prevalent were psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression. It is, however, still not clear how the virus is linked to these conditions and diagnoses.

Researchers also said that although cases of stroke, dementia, and other neurological disorders were rare in post-Covid-19 cases, they were considered mostly in some of the patients who were in the high–risk category of Covid-19.

As per Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Oxford University who co-led the work, “although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial.”

Max Taquet, also an Oxford psychiatrist who worked with Harrison, said that the biological or psychological mechanisms involved were not within the purview of the study but urgent research is required in order to identify these “with a view to preventing or treating them”.

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Meanwhile, health experts across the world are concerned about the growing number of cases suggesting high risks of brain and mental health disorders in survivors of the virus. In a study that was conducted last year by the same team, it was inferred that in 20 percent of Covid-19 survivors there were symptoms of psychiatric disorder seen within three months of getting infected.

The recent study was conducted on 236,379 Covid-19 patients and the new findings were published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal. According to the results of the study, 34 percent had been diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric illnesses within six months.

It has also been found that these disorders were more common in Covid-19 patients than others who recovered from flu or other respiratory infections over the same time period. Thus, say scientists, it is clear that Covid-19 has a specific impact.

The News Talkie Bureau

Source:

Hindustantimes