Seven in ten people with long Covid experience issues with their memory and concentration months after catching the virus, new research suggests. In a study of 181 patients, 78 per cent reported difficulty concentrating, 69 per cent reported brain fog and 68 per cent reported forgetfulness, reports the Daily Record.
Checking the self-reported symptoms against cognitive tests, researchers at the University of Cambridge found a "consistent pattern of memory deficits" in people who had caught coronavirus, with more pronounced problems in those with more severe symptoms. The findings suggest society will face a "long tail" of workforce illness due to the lasting effects of the virus, they concluded.
The study, published in the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience journal, monitored the patients over 18 months. Three in four (75 per cent) participants with severe long Covid reported lengthy periods of being unable to work.
Scientists said that while Covid-19 has often been characterised as simply a respiratory disease, "it is increasingly being understood" as an infection that impacts multiple systems in the body, including the mind. Between 10 and 25 per cent of coronavirus patients are understood to experience long Covid.
Senior author Dr Lucy Cheke from the University of Cambridge said: "Long Covid has received very little attention politically or medically. It urgently needs to be taken more seriously, and cognitive issues are an important part of this.
"When politicians talk about 'Living with Covid' – that is, unmitigated infection, this is something they ignore. The impact on the working population could be huge.”
Study participants performed multiple tasks to assess their cognition, including remembering words in a list and recalling which two images appeared together. Scientists found that those who experienced fatigue and neurological symptoms – such as dizziness and headache – during their initial illness were more likely to have cognitive issues later on.
"This is important evidence that when people say they're having cognitive difficulties post-Covid, these are not necessarily the result of anxiety or depression," said Dr Muzaffer Kaser, a researcher from the University of Cambridge who was involved in the study. "The effects are measurable – something concerning is happening."
