Covid Increases Depression and Dementia Risk

Researchers have found that suffering from Covid increases depression and dementia risks in people. The study shows neurological medical conditions are more likely to develop in those who had the virus in the last six months.

A third of people who had Covid either developed or suffered a relapse of a psychological or neurological condition. And people in hospital or intensive care had an even greater risk.

The reason for the high risk is probably due to the effects of stress coupled with the virus directly impacting the brain.

To conduct the study, the electronic medical records of more than half a million patients in the US were studied by Scientists in the UK. They specifically looked at the chances they had of developing one of 14 common psychological or neurological conditions. This included:

• Brain Haemorrhage
• Stroke
• Parkinson’s
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome
• Dementia
• Psychosis
• Mood Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders

The most common diagnosis of people with Covid was anxiety and mood disorders. The researchers felt the most likely cause was the stress of experiencing severe illness or going to hospital.

It is thought most likely that conditions such as stroke and dementia were because of biological impacts of the virus. Alternatively, it was an effect of the the body’s general reaction to infection.

The research found nothing to link Covid to risks of Parkinson’s or Guillain-Barré syndrome (a risk from flu).

Cause and Effect

It was not possible for researchers to confirm whether any of the diagnoses were as a result of Covid. This was due to the study being observational only. There is a chance some people would have suffered from depression or had a stroke in the next six months anyway.

Researchers compared a group of people who had Covid to a group of people who had flu, and to a group with other respiratory infections. They concluded that Covid linked to more developments of brain conditions than other respiratory illnesses did.

To make the study as fair and comparable as possible, the researchers matched people by sex, age, ethnicity and general health.

It was found that people who had had Covid were 16% more likely to get a psychological or neurological disorder than those who suffered from other respiratory infections. And it was 44% more likely than people who had flu.

In addition, the more severe the case of Covid, the more likely it is to be diagnosed with a mental health or brain disorder.

24% of all patients were affected by mood, anxiety or psychotic disorders. This rose to 25% in those in hospital, and 28% in people taken to intensive care. Furthermore, this number rose to 36% in those who experienced delirium when ill.

2% of all Covid patients were affected by stroke. This rose to 7% of those admitted to ICU, and 9% of those who experienced delirium.

0.7% of all Covid patients were diagnosed with dementia, with 5% of them having delirium as a symptom.

The Relationship Between Covid and Mental Health

Head of research at Alzheimer’s Research Dr Sara Imarisio, says that previous studies highlighted the fact people with dementia have a higher risk of suffering from a severe Covid infection. This new study examines if this also works the other way round.

It is essential for researchers to determine the underlying reasons for the cause of this relationship.

According to a neurology professor at the University of Oxford, evidence exists to suggest the virus enters the brain and causes direct damage.

There can be other indirect effects too, eg. on blood clotting which can lead to strokes. Also, the general inflammation in the body responding to infection can have an effect on the brain.

Just over a third of patients developing one or more of these conditions got the diagnosis for the first time. But even where a pre-existing condition re-occurred, the possibility of Covid being the cause of this episode could not be ruled out.

It is said, the study confirms suspicions that Covid is not just related to respiratory symptoms, but is also associated with psychiatric and neurological issues.

Taking the six months after diagnosis into consideration, it shows that “after-effects” can be seen much later than expected. Although as expected, the outcome is generally more serious in those admitted to hospital. But the study also indicates that serious effects can be seen in those who had not been in hospital.

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