A third of Covid-19 survivors suffer ‘brain disease,’ study shows “2021”

1 min readApr 7, 2021

As many as one in three people infected with Covid-19 have longer term mental health or neurological symptoms, researchers reported Tuesday. They found 34% of Covid-19 survivors received a diagnosis for a neurological or psychological condition within six months of their infection, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry. The most common diagnosis was anxiety, found in 17% of those treated for Covid-19, followed by mood disorders, found in 14% of patients.

And while the neurological effects are more severe in hospitalized patients, they are still common in those who were only treated in an outpatient setting, the researchers note.

“That rate increased progressively as the severity of the Covid-19 illness increased. If we look at patients who were hospitalized that rate increased to 39%,” said Maxime Taquet, an academic clinical fellow in psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and a co-author of the new study.

The results help light the way for how the healthcare system ought to continue helping Covid-19 survivors, the researchers said.

A third of Covid-19 survivors suffer ‘brain disease,’ study shows “2021”

Written by Henriettajsmith