Strokes And Mental State Changes Are Testimony To The Effects Of COVID-19 On The Brain

Strokes And Mental State Changes Are Testimony To The Effects Of COVID-19 On The Brain
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Cases of coronavirus-infected patients described by U.K. doctors provide enhanced views on the cerebral effects of the virus.

The Study

The results were published on June 26 in Lancet Psychiatry. The data was extracted from a group of several people who were infected with the novel coronavirus, so the results can’t be quantified on a larger scale.

Confusion, psychosis, and strokes were discovered among a population of 125 infected people.

However, it looks like brain-related symptoms of the pandemic can go by unnoticed by routine checkups.

Benedict Michael, a neurologist at the University of Liverpool in England, stated:

“These relatively rare but incredibly severe complications get missed, like needles in a haystack.”

Michael and his colleagues ran a survey to analyze the conditions that the viral complications can provoke.

In April, several psychiatrists, neurologists, stroke physicians, and other doctors from the United Kingdom analyzed COVID-19 patient details to form a centralized database as part of the survey.

The specialties of the medics involved suggest that the study was heavily focused on analyzing the brain-related symptoms.

Results Of The Analysis

The results were staggering – 77 out of 125 patients manifested an interruption of blood flow in the brain, typically produced by a blood clot.

However, blood clots are also common COVID-19 complications, and even some younger infected people manifest strokes.

Approximately thirty percent of the patients experienced a shift in mental state. Eighteen of 37 patients with modified mental states were under the age of 60 at the time of the study.

Unfortunately, for the moment, it is unknown how SARS-CoV-2 produces the symptoms.

“Now that we know the rough idea of the scale of this, we desperately need research that gets to the disease mechanisms,” Michael said.


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Anna is an avid blogger with an educational background in medicine and mental health. She is a generalist with many other interests including nutrition, women's health, astronomy and photography. In her free time from work and writing, Anna enjoys nature walks, reading, and listening to jazz and classical music.

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