Continued, and in some cases debilitating, problems with thinking affect the vast majority of Covid-19 patients who have never been sick enough to be hospitalized, according to a study published Tuesday in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
The research, from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, is based on an analysis of 100 “long-distance” patients from Covid-19, whose symptoms lasted at least six weeks. Everyone originally had a mild illness: sore throat, cough, low-grade fever.
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But after the acute infection was eliminated, 85 percent reported at least four lasting neurological problems that affected their daily lives.
By far, the most commonly reported symptom was “brain fog”, with 81 percent of respondents reporting ongoing problems with memory and thinking.
Sixty-eight percent said they had headaches and more than half said they had problems with loss of taste and smell, numbness or tingling and muscle pain.
Most were women, with an average age of 43 years. Less common symptoms included dizziness, blurred vision and tinnitus (ringing in the ears).
Symptoms tend to come and go over the course of a few months. Most patients get better over time, but not all. Only 64% said they felt better after five months, but the vast majority still reported “intense fatigue”.
Patients “also had some breathing problems, despite the fact that they never had pneumonia or were hospitalized because of low oxygen levels,” said Dr. Igor Koralnik, study author and head of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology Northwestern Medicine. Koralnik also oversees the facility’s post-Covid clinic.
Although this study is small, it illustrates what millions of people may face in the coming months. Of the more than 30 million Americans diagnosed with Covid-19, it is estimated that up to 30 percent may experience long-term symptoms. This equates to about 10 million people.
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And a review of research published on Monday found that long-term Covid-19 has the ability to affect many organs in the body, including the lungs, heart, kidneys and skin, as well as the gastrointestinal, nervous and endocrine systems.
Before Covid-19 long-distance symptoms, 42 percent of respondents reported depression or anxiety and 16 percent reported having an autoimmune disease.
“We want to understand the most effective interventions for these patients,” said Koralnik. “We are trying to devise the best ways to manage and treat these patients, but more research is needed.”
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