Long COVID patients are up to 5 times more likely to have dementia after COVID-19
Apr 16, 2025
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Long Covid appears regardless of the severity of COVID-19, and symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, coughing, muscle pain, chest pain, loss of smell and taste, depression, and anxiety are continuously observed for a certain period of time. Depending on individual circumstances, it is known to be as short as 4 weeks or more after infection and as long as 12 weeks or more.
Multinational research teams such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Russia, and Argentina recently published the results of a study on the aftereffects and cognitive impairments of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the COVID-19 virus, in the international journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience.
The research team conducted a study on 4,000 patients with COVID-19 when they were over the age of 60.
Early research showed that up to a third of people 65 and older suffering from long-covid met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia.
This is four to five times higher in prevalence compared to the same age group without long-COVID symptoms.
Although mild cognitive impairment is not always a sign of dementia, one in six people with these symptoms is diagnosed with dementia within a year.
Dr. Gabriel de Erausquin, a neurologist at the University of Texas Health San Antonio who participated in the study, explained that it suggests that patients exposed to the COVID-19 virus are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
According to a study published in August last year, a study of about 1 million patients found that about two-thirds of the elderly over 65 who were hospitalized with COVID-19 suffered cognitive decline.
Experts have yet to determine whether the pathogen triggers changes that can lead to dementia or whether the virus accelerates existing problems in the brain.
However, experts are studying whether mild cognitive impairment caused by COVID-19 can be cured.
Meanwhile, estimates published in the journal 『Nature Medicine』 in August last year suggest that around 409 million people worldwide were suffering from Long Covid as of the end of 2023.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
