A group of 70 Brazilian scientists studied the impact of coronavirus infection on humans and concluded that COVID-19 can destroy the psyche, provoke dementia and destroy brain neurons.
According to scientists from the University of São Paulo at Campinas (Unicamp), the University of São Paulo (USP), the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), the National Laboratory for Biological Sciences (LNBio) and the private research institute “D’Or” , coronavirus is dangerous for the mental health of not only those people whose disease was severe, but also those who did not require hospitalization.
In severe cases, neuronal death in patients is expected because they have low blood oxygen saturation, which is very harmful to the brain. But when such serious changes are revealed in someone who has had a mild or moderate illness, this is already a cause for concern, – stated in Unicamp.
Experts emphasize that the infection can cause schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease in patients. Significant changes in the cerebral cortex, up to the atrophy of certain areas associated with changes in mood, occur due to the fact that the virus infects astrocytes – cells that provide communication between neurons and are responsible for their nutrition. The researchers note that it is this symptom that is most often observed in patients with COVID-19.
Scientists also talked about patients recovered from coronavirus, who, even after two months, have various neurological disorders, including loss of taste and smell, headache, memory impairment and severe drowsiness.
Experts cannot yet say if these are long-term health problems or if they will soon disappear. Scientists promise to continue research and patient monitoring, reports portal G1.
Previously ridus.ru talked about the method reduce the risk of contracting coronavirus by a third.
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