Covid hospitalisation may affect thinking similar to 20 years of ageing

According to research, people who have been hospitalized with Covid may be left with difficulties in thinking.

It became apparent that coronaviruses could cause immediate health problems but also leave some people with a condition known as long Covid.

According to one UK study, about a third of patients who experienced symptoms after being hospitalized felt fully recovered a year later, with little improvement for most patients in areas including physical function and cognitive impairment.

Some patients were left with a decline in cognitive function.

The degree of impairment was linked to the severity of illness according to David Menon, a professor at Cambridge University.

He said that Covid causes problems with a variety of organs in the body. The problems are going to be less.

Menon and colleagues examined the results of cognitive tests performed by 46 patients at Addenbrooke's hospital in Cambridge between March and July 2020 in the eClinicalMedicine journal. 16 of the group received mechanical ventilation.

The basis of the Great British Intelligence Test was created by the researchers at Imperial College London who used the Cognitron platform.

The team compared the results with people who had never had Covid who took part in the challenge. Ten people were matched for each patient based on their age, gender, education and first language.

The results show that those who were hospitalized with Covid had cognitive impairments.

The thing they struggle with most is verbal reasoning, according to Menon.

The study shows that the magnitude of the change was comparable to the cognitive decline seen as people age from 50 to 70 years old.

The team found no difference in the level of cognitive impairment between those who completed the tests six months after hospital admission and those who did not, although there were hints of an improvement. If a stronger association has emerged, the will return for more tests.

Menon said that investigating cognitive decline in Covid patients may help those who experienced similar problems after other illnesses.

The trials that we will be able to conduct will allow us to understand the underlying mechanisms and produce effective treatments to prevent it from happening.