Long-term consequences of Covid-19 – Corona affects the IQ of infected people

A study with 84,000 test persons suggests that a Covid-19 infection reduces long-term mental performance.

The often called “mild course” of most CrownInfections can be deceptive: Even those who are not seriously ill and can take care of themselves at home can have health problems for a long time afterwards. How long cannot be estimated yet: the virus has only been known for a year.

Long-term effects of Covid-19: the disease can affect mental performance

According to current knowledge from Great Britain SARS-CoV-2 they affect not only physical well-being, but also mental performance. As “Ärzteblatt” reports, patients who received a Corona infection fared worse than the rest of the world in the Great British Intelligence Test on the Internet. The deficit corresponds to “about 8.5 IQ points on a standard intelligence test or ten-year premature aging”. A team of scientists from Imperial College London carried out the evaluation. The results have been published on the “medRxiv” prepress server and not yet in a specialized magazine.

Covid-19: Corona patients perform worse in the “Great British Intelligence Test”

In total, more than 84,000 people took part in the test, which began in December 2019, of which just under 3,500 said they had recently suffered from a respiratory infection. Most had only mild symptoms, 176 were outpatients, and 147 had been treated in a clinic. Another 60 had to be ventilated. In 361 of these people there was one SARS-CoV-2– An infection has been detected. According to Ärzteblatt, the extent of cognitive loss increased with the level of treatment and was greater among those who needed to be hospitalized. The deficits were particularly severe when someone also had to be mechanically ventilated.

Coronavirus: do Covid-19 patients get worse on IQ test?

The fact that people need a longer period of time after mechanical ventilation until they are mentally fit again, however, often behaves this way and not just with COVID-19. Nor has it been shown that cognitive deficits are actually due to Coronavirus are due to. However, it is now known SARS-CoV-2 It reaches the brain and causes central nerve problems. Recent studies also indicate other long-term effects that have to do with processes in the brain. These include anxiety and depression.

It is now considered certain that COVID-19 It often triggers long-term exhaustion regardless of severity; more than half of all previously infected people are said to suffer from it. Many also complain for months of coughing and shortness of breath.

The long-term consequences of severe courses mainly include damage to the Lungewhich, however, can often be reversed with good rehabilitation. (By Pamela Dörhöfer)