A China-based study, which tracked over 1,000 Covid-19 recovered patients aged 60 years and above for a year, has found that their cognitive abilities have declined and pushed them towards dementia.
Looking at changes in these patients after their hospital discharge, it has reported that 21 per cent of those with severe cases in this cohort experienced progressive cognitive decline, suggesting that Covid-19 can cause long-lasting damage than previously thought. The study notes that its findings imply “that the pandemic may substantially contribute to the world dementia burden in the future.”
The study followed up recovered patients, who were discharged between February and April 2020 from three Covid-19 designated hospitals in China, and concluded that “severe Covid-19 was associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment at 12 months.” The severe cases more frequently experienced early-onset cognitive decline, late-onset cognitive decline and progressive cognitive decline, compared to non-severe cases and control individuals.