Worrying covid side effect which can take up to a year to appear – Possible Side Effects After Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
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Scientists have identified a worrying side-effect of Covid-19 which can take up to a year to appear. Many people have had symptoms of tiredness and brain fog long after having the virus.
However, it now appears that the virus might actually cause, or speed up, dementia in older people. According to a new study the risk of developing Alzheimer’s soars in those who have had the virus.
According to experts, it is unclear whether the virus causes the disease or whether it just speeds up the onset of the brain disorder in those who would have gone on to develop it later in life.
Scientists reported in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, how older people who had Covid have a substantially higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease within a year. A study that looked at more than six million patients aged 65 and over found those who had coronavirus were as much as 50-80 percent more likely to develop dementia over the next 12 months than those who had not had the virus.
Professor Pamela Davies, the co-author of the study, said factors involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease are poorly understood. However, areas considered important are prior infections, especially viral infections, and inflammation.
She said as infection with SARS-CoV2 has been associated with central nervous system abnormalities including inflammation, they wanted to test whether, even in the short term, COVID could lead to increased diagnoses.
Researchers analyzed health records of 6.2 million adults 65 and older in the United States who received medical treatment between February 2020 and May 2021 and had no prior diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. These were divided into two groups: one of the people who contracted Covid-19 during that period, and another of people who had no documented cases of the virus. More than 400,000 people were enrolled in the Covid study group, while 5.8 million were in the non-infected group.
Prof Davis warned: If this increase in new diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease is sustained, the wave of patients with a disease currently without a cure will be substantial, and could further strain our long-term care resources. Alzheimer’s disease is a serious and challenging disease, and we thought we had turned some of the tides on it by reducing general risk factors such as hypertension, heart disease, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.
According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, almost 600 people are diagnosed with dementia every day. People over 65 are much more likely to get dementia, but it can affect younger people too.
Some people may be more likely to develop dementia than others, like those who have had a stroke, or who have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or depression.
At the moment there is no cure for dementia. Once a person has dementia, they will have it for the rest of their life. There are some medicines that can help for a while, by making day-to-day life a little easier.
There may also be group activities people can take part in to help them live better with their symptoms. Unfortunately, there are no medicines at the moment that can stop these diseases so people will continue to get worse over time.
