covid-19 raises risk of alzheimer's, parkinson's and stroke: study
researchers also found that the risks were also similar to people who contracted other respiratory illnesses, like influenza.
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researchers have known for some time that some symptoms of covid-19 resemble those of patients with neurological diseases. getty
a new study has found that people who contract covid-19 face a greater risk of developing alzheimer’s disease, parkinson’s and ischemic stroke than those who manage to avoid the virus.
the study, which was presented at the 8th european academy of neurology congress, discovered these growing concerns after analyzing the health records of more than half the population of denmark.
“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 uncharacterized,” said pardis zarifkar, the lead author of the study from the department of neurology at rigshospitalet, a specialized hospital in copenhagen. “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.”
covid infection could lead to dementia-like symptoms
researchers have known for some time that some symptoms of covid-19, particularly those associated with long covid, bear a striking resemblance to the experiences of patients with neurological diseases. one study found that while the virus does not attack the brain directly, it has a close network relationship with multiple neurological diseases through which an infection could lead to dementia-like symptoms. other research has examined the role inflammation or genetic links to other diseases might have on the course of the virus.
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using statistical techniques to calculate relative risk and stratifying results for hospitalization status, age, sex and comorbidities, the current study found that the 43,375 danish patients who tested positive for covid-19 between february 2020 and november 2021, had a risk of developing alzheimer’s disease that was 3.5 times greater than those who had not contracted the virus. other risks that increased included a parkinson’s diagnosis (by 2.6 times), an ischemic stroke (2.7 times) and an intracerebral hemorrhage (4.8 times).
it is important to note that the increased risks of developing a neurological disease, while concerning, were found to be no greater for people who contracted covid-19 than those who were diagnosed with influenza or other illnesses of the respiratory system. the one notable exception was that covid patients had a 1.7 times increased risk of ischemic stroke compared to influenza and bacterial pneumonia inpatients over the age of 80.
the team also found that the rate of developing other neurodegenerative conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, guillain-barré syndrome and narcolepsy, remained unchanged after covid-19, influenza or pneumonia.
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“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,” zarifkar said. “reassuringly, apart from 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.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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