Academic researchers in the UK determined people who suffered a COVID-19 infection could have experienced a significant loss of brain function..The University of Cambridge and Imperial College London in the UK, where the research was undertaken, found the viral infection could knock 10 points off your IQ level..The study reported that people who are COVID-19-recovered and who had a hospital stay with the disease could have sustained brain damage that might take six months to heal. It also suggested the coronavirus infection might age a brain by as much as 20 years..Symptoms would include a diminished attention span, language difficulties, and the brain’s decreased ability to process information..The study looked at 46 Brits who were hospitalized by the virus between March and July 2020. The data showed they scored worse on brain tests when compared to the average scores of 66,008 members of the general public..Anesthetist and brain specialist, Professor David Menon, who was on the research team, described the study process: “We followed some patients up as late as 10 months after their acute infection, so we were able to see a very slow improvement. This is at least heading in the right direction, but it is very possible that some of these individuals will never fully recover.”.The study’s first author, Professor Adam Hampshire, from the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London, said: “Around 40,000 people have been through intensive care with COVID-19 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,” Hampshire said..The patients’ cognitive scores and reaction times improved over time, but generally recovery was “at best gradual, and likely to be affected by a number of factors” the researchers said..“Illness severity and its neurological or psychological impacts” were factors in determining the severity of cognitive injury..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.abrown@westernstandard.news.Twitter: @WS_JournoAmanda
