Covid-driven pre-mature brain ageing could affect a substantial number of Americans, according to experts.

Although dozens of studies have revealed that Covid impairs brain function, the researchers say that this is the first study of its sort to thoroughly analyze the impact.

Patients with an average age of 51 who were hospitalized for the virus in 2020 were assessed for their cognitive abilities. A third of the patients were on ventilators.

Six months after their sickness, they were subjected to a range of memory, attention, and reasoning tests.

The results of these tests were then compared to those of 66,000 members of the general population.

Some 460 people were chosen for direct comparison based on their age, gender, and other factors.

The Covid survivors were shown to be less accurate and had slower response times than the general public.

Covid survivors performed particularly poorly on tasks requiring them to find appropriate words for an issue, referred to in the test as ‘verbal analogies.’

This, the authors said, was a commonly reported problem among those experiencing ‘brain fog’ after recovering from Covid.

Patients who required mechanical breathing performed the worst on the tests, demonstrating that the severity of the illness is a driving factor in the cognitive deterioration seen in long-term Covid.

The cognitive damage among Covid survivors was equivalent to that reported in adults aged 50 to 70, according to the study, which included Imperial College London researchers.

While the patients showed some ‘gradual’ cognitive recovery 10 months following their sickness, the authors warned that some of them may never fully recover their previous intellect.

They also warned that millions of people who had a milder form of Covid could be affected, but to a lesser degree.

Professor David Menon, the research author and neuroscientist, noted that while some of the patients improved with time, it was sluggish, and that some may never regain their earlier cognitive ability.

“We followed some patients up as late as ten months after their acute infection, so were able to see a very slow improvement,” he says.

“While this was not statistically significant, it is at least heading in the right direction, but it is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover.”

Professor Adam Hampshire, a fellow researcher, believes that this Covid-driven pre-mature brain ageing could affect a substantial number of people.

According to him, “around 40,000 people have been through intensive care with Covid in England alone and many more will have been very sick, but not admitted to hospital.

“This means there is a large number of people out there still experiencing problems with cognition many months later.

“We urgently need to look at what can be done to help these people.”

According to the researchers, this premature aging could be caused by the virus decreasing oxygen to the brain or by inflammation of brain tissues caused by the body’s attempt to combat Covid.

This study was partly sponsored by the National Institute for Health Research, a body which directs Government funded health research from the Department of Health.

The study, which was published in eClinicalMedicine, is the most recent to raise concerns about Covid’s long-term health issues.

The previous study has linked Covid to a slew of long-term issues, ranging from mental health issues to fatigue and libido loss.

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