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New Delhi
Neurological and psychiatric conditions are among the several worrying consequences of COVID-19, a new study says. Researchers from Oxford University had reported last year that one in three patients experienced mood disorders, strokes, or dementia six months after Covid infection. The researchers have now released a new longer-term analysis of 1.25 million Covid patient records. The study, that claims to be the single largest study of its kind, also includes data of children and the several new variants.
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The risk of developing neurological and mental health conditions such as psychosis, dementia, brain fog, and seizures remains high till after two years of the infection, in comparison to other respiratory infections, the report by the University of Oxford and the National Institute for Health and Care Research Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre, published Wednesday in the Lancet Psychiatry said.
However, while anxiety and depression more commonly occur soon after a COVID-19 diagnosis, they are likely to fade off after the first two months, similar to what happens after infections such as the flu.
Looking at the data on children, the study says that they weren't as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression till two years and the risk of brain fog also goes away. But the risk of them suffering seizures and psychotic disorders is much higher than children recovering from other respiratory infections.
Looking at how the different variants affected health risks, the chances of neuropsychiatric diagnoses rose, from 10% higher for anxiety to 38% for brain fog, if one was infected with the Delta variant as compared to the alpha version. Similar results were found for the Omicron variant, even though it is relatively milder.
Dr Max Taquet, who led the analyses at the University of Oxford, said, âThe findings shed new light on the longer-term mental and brain health consequences for people following COVID-19 infection. The results have implications for patients and health services and highlight the need for more research to understand why this happens after COVID-19, and what can be done to prevent these disorders from occurring, or treat them when they do.â
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As per the study, adults under 65 with a history of Covid infection up to two years previously had a higher risk of cognitive deficit, better known as brain fog (640 vs. 550 cases per 10,000 people), and muscle disease (44 vs. 32 cases per 10,000 people). Adults 65 and over who had Covid over the same time span had more diagnoses of brain fog (1,540 vs. 1,230 per 10,000 people), dementia (450 vs. 330 per 10,000 people), and psychotic disorder (85 vs. 60 per 10,000 people). Children who had Covid were more likely to have seizures (260 vs. 130 cases per 10,000 children) and psychotic disorders (18 vs. 6 per 10,000 children).
As far as the limitations of the study are concerned, the researchers cautioned that the study may underrepresent self-diagnosed and asymptomatic cases since they are normally not recorded. It also did not look at the severity or length of conditions after COVID-19.
(With inputs from agencies)