Patients with Covid19 who seek medical care outside the hospital have a higher chance of developing neurodegenerative diseases than those who test negative for the virus, says new research presented at the 8th Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) today.
Positive test results for COVID-19 were associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ischemic stroke, according to a study that analyzed the medical records of more than half of Denmark’s population.
In the study, 919,731 people were tested for COVID-19. The 43,375 people who tested positive had 3.5 times higher risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, 2.6 times higher risk of Parkinson’s disease, 2.7 times higher risk of ischaemic stroke, and 4.8 times higher risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain). While the authors acknowledged that neuroinflammation may hasten the onset of neurodegenerative illnesses, they also emphasized the significance of the scientific community’s attention to the long-term effects of COVID-19.
In addition to patients with influenza from the corresponding pre-pandemic period, the study examined in- and outpatients in Denmark from February 2020 to November 2021. Researchers used statistical methods to figure out relative risk, and the results were separated by hospitalization status, age, gender, and the number of other health problems.
“More than two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the precise nature and evolution of the effects of COVID-19 on neurological disorders remained uncharacterised,” said lead author Dr. Pardis Zarifkar. “Previous studies have established an association with neurological syndromes, but until now it is unknown whether COVID-19 also influences the incidence of specific neurological diseases and whether it differs from other respiratory infections.”
Although COVID-19-positive patients had a slightly higher chance of developing the neurological disease than the general population, this risk was no greater than that seen in those who had been diagnosed with the flu or another respiratory illness. In comparison to individuals with influenza and bacterial pneumonia who were over 80 years old, COVID-19 patients did have a 1.7 times higher chance of having an ischemic stroke.
There was no increase in the incidence of other neurological diseases following COVID-19, influenza, or pneumonia. These diseases include multiple sclerosis (MS), myasthenia gravis (MG), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), and narcolepsy.
Dr. Pardis Zarifkar continued, “we found support for an increased risk of being diagnosed with neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disorders in COVID-19 positive compared to COVID-negative patients, which must be confirmed or refuted by large registry studies in the near future.
“Reassuringly, apart for ischemic stroke, most neurological disorders do not appear to be more frequent after COVID-19 than after influenza or community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
“These findings will help to inform our understanding of the long-term effect of COVID-19 on the body and the role that infections play in neurodegenerative diseases and stroke.”
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