“Covid Brain” is real. That’s according to an Oxford University study that claims Covid infection can lead to brain degeneration accelerating faster than normal in middle-aged people.
The University studied the brains scans of 401 people before and after they caught the virus. According to The Telegraph:
They discovered that in olfactory-related regions – which govern smell – brain volume had decreased by an average of 0.7 per cent compared to a matched control group who were not infected.
Typically, a middle-aged person loses just 0.2 per cent volume in that region in a year, while someone in older age could expect to lose 0.3 per cent annually. It suggests the decline happened more quickly in people who caught Covid.
The researchers also found that people who had tested positive took longer to complete a battery of cognitive tests.
Writing in the journal Nature, the authors concluded: “Our longitudinal analyses revealed a significant, deleterious impact associated with Covid-19.
“Significantly greater cognitive decline, which persisted even after excluding the hospitalised patients, was seen in the Covid-19 positive group between the two timepoints.
“Whether this deleterious impact can be partially reversed, or whether these effects will persist in the long term, remains to be investigated with additional follow-up.”
In other Covid related news, scientists at the University of Edinburgh claim they’ve identified 16 genes that increase someone’s chances of becoming seriously ill with the virus.
They believe that by identifying the genes and their location in the body, they can manufacture drugs to help those most at risk from Covid.