Covid-19 can damage mental functioning
Almost a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients suffer some lasting form of altered mental function, ranging from mild confusion to delirium to coma-like unresponsiveness. That’s the conclusion of the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in the U.S. Scientists examined the records of 509 coronavirus patients who were treated at Chicago-area hospitals in March and April, 162 of whom developed encephalopathy, a catch-all term for any brain damage, disease, or dysfunction. The patients with encephalopathy remained hospitalized three times longer than those without. After being discharged, only 32 percent said they could handle day-today activities such as cooking and paying bills. Patients with encephalopathy were also nearly seven times more likely to die than those without. Only about 25 percent of those with lingering neurological symptoms had been sick enough to require ventilators. Overall, 82 percent of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 suffered some neurological symptoms for a period of time. The researchers didn’t identify why Covid-19 causes encephalopathy, but many experts suspect the neurological effects are a result of severe inflammatory and immune system responses that often damage other organs. “This study highlights that for survivors of Covid-19, when they survive the infection, their recovery is just beginning,” Richard Temes, a neurologist who wasn’t involved in the study, tells USA Today. “These patients can have longstanding and lingering effects.”