One in three survivors of Covid-19, which involved more than 230,000 patients in six months, was diagnosed with a brain or mental disorder within six months, suggesting that the pandemic could cause a wave of mental and neurological problems.
The researchers said it was unclear how the virus was linked to mental illness such as anxiety and depression, but according to Reuters, these were the most common diagnoses among the 14 disorders they looked at.
Cases of stroke, dementia and other neurological disorders after Covid were less common, the researchers said, but were still significant, especially in those who had severe Covid-19.
“Our results suggest that brain disease and mental disorders are more common after Covid-19 than after the flu or other respiratory infections,” said Max Take, a psychiatrist at Oxford University in the UK who co-led the work.
“Our results show that brain diseases and mental disorders are more common after Covid-19 than after the flu or other respiratory infections,” said Max Take, a psychiatrist at the University of Oxford in Britain who co-led the work.