Brain damage, psychiatric problems reported in severe coronavirus cases, study says
A new study shows that severe cases of the coronavirus can cause strokes and other neurological issues, or an “altered mental state” for patients.
The research, published in the British medical journal Lancet Psychiatry, looked at a small pool of severe COVID-19 cases. The researchers found more than 100 patients who had either neurological or psychiatric problems from the coronavirus.
“Our study population represents a snapshot of hospitalized patients with acute neurological or psychiatric complications associated with COVID-19,” the researchers said, calling for a broader study of the topic.
The researchers focused on cases with known neurological or psychiatric problems, and did not try to figure out how common these kinds of issues are for people with the coronavirus.
“There have been growing reports of an association between Covid-19 infection and possible neurological or psychiatric complications, but until now these have typically been limited to studies of 10 patients or fewer,” lead author Benedict Michael told The Guardian.
University College London professor Sarah Pett, who helped lead the study, said, “This (is) an important snapshot of the brain-related complications of COVID-19 in hospitalized patients. It is critically important that we continue to collect this information to really understand this virus fully,” according to Reuters.
“Many important questions remain for neurologists and psychiatrists,” the researchers said. “How common are neurological and psychiatric complications in patients with COVID-19? What proportion of neurological and psychiatric complications affect the (central nervous system) versus the peripheral nervous system, and are novel syndromes emerging? And who is most at risk?”
The researchers found 77 COVID patients in British hospitals who had either a stroke or a brain hemorrhage. The study says 39 patients had an “altered mental status.” Ten of them developed a new psychosis and six had symptoms similar to dementia, according to the study.
The average age of the patients in the study was 71, but included people from 23 to 94, the researchers said.
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Brain damage, psychiatric problems reported in severe coronavirus cases, study says."
