Covid-19 can cause brain damage even in light survivors

In a study carried out on people who survived Covid-19, even those who survived the disease mildly or moderately, SARS-CoV-2 virus caused gray matter loss in the brain and smell and memory. It has been observed that it causes significant neurological changes, including related areas.

Cognitive declines were also seen

Oxford University researchers conducted a study on the effects of Covid-19 on patients with the data they obtained from the UK Biobank imaging centers. Within the scope of the study, screening and cognitive tests were performed twice, with an average of 38 months apart, with 785 people in total.

Out of a total of 785 participants, 401 were diagnosed with Covid-19 from March 2020 to April 2021. Of these 401 people, only 15 of them were treated in hospital, 2 of which were in intensive care. 384 people who were not diagnosed with Covid-19 were included in the study as the control group. The researchers compared the people diagnosed with both their pre-infective scans and the control group.

Second brain scans of Covid-19 survivors were performed on average 141 times after diagnosis. When comparisons were made, changes were observed such as decreased sense of smell, brain tissue damage in areas associated with the olfactory cortex, a decrease in whole brain volume and an increase in cerebrospinal fluid volume. In addition, people who survived Covid-19 in cognitive tests were able to complete the test in longer times compared to the control group.

One study co-author: “Infected participants showed greater cognitive decline, on average, between the two time points. Importantly, these imaging and cognitive longitudinal effects were the same after excluding the 15 hospitalized cases.” said.

Researchers, They noted that the statistics represent an average effect and that this does not mean that every survivor of Covid-19 will have brain changes. The study also does not cover Delta or Omicron variants.