One in three people who recovered from the coronavirus suffers from a neurological or psychiatric disorder six months later, according to the largest study on the mental toll of long COVID published on Wednesday. The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal, shows that coronavirus patients have a significantly increased chance of developing brain-related conditions than those who suffered from other respiratory tract infections. Out of 230,000 recovered virus patients, 34% were diagnosed with a psychiatric or neurological condition within six months, with the most common conditions being anxiety (17%) and mood disorders (14%). For 13% of patients, it was their first mental health diagnosis. The incident of post-COVID neurological disorders such as brain hemorrhage (0.6%), stroke (2.1%) and dementia (0.7%) were rarer but were still significant, especially in those who suffered severe coronavirus symptoms. Coronavirus patients suffered a 44% greater risk of developing a mental health or neurological disorder after COVID than after the flu and a 16% higher risk than after a respiratory tract infection. “Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial,” said Paul Harrison, lead author from the University of Oxford. “Many of these conditions are chronic,” he said. “As a result, health care systems need to be resourced to deal with the anticipated need, both within primary and secondary care services.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
The post 1 In 3 COVID Survivors Suffer Psychiatric Or Neurological Disorders appeared first on The Yeshiva World.