The devastating neurological effects of long Covid can persist for at least two years, research published in the United Kingdom finds.
The study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine says that people who reported having long-covid symptoms for at least 12 weeks after being infected with COVID showed reduced performance in tests for memory, reasoning and motor control for up to two years after the infection.
According to Washington Post, researchers used an online platform to test thousands of people to understand how COVID has affected brain function and how long those symptoms persist.
Nathan Cheetham, a senior postdoctoral data scientist at King's College London led the study, he revealed that it allowed them to quantify how big the effect of covid is and who was most affected.
People across the globe have reported symptoms of long covid. The media outlet reported that in the United States, millions of people suffered from the symptoms. The symptoms of long covid can include fatigue, respiratory and heart problems, digestive problems and neurological issues such as brain fog.
The neurological symptoms include brain fog, numbness, tingling, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus and fatigue.
Anna S. Nordvig, a neurologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who founded a clinic for long-haulers with brain fog told Washington Post, "There has been some contention about whether the cognitive effects of an earlier covid infection do actually persist."
Ms Nordvig said that in her own practice, she has seen these symptoms persist - unfortunately, over three years in some cases, and many times after just a mild covid infection.
Cognitive difficulties are the most common symptoms seen in long covid patients.
Greg Vanichkachorn, medical director of the Covid Activity Rehabilitation Program at Mayo Clinic told the media outlet, "We tend to see a lot of folks get better with physical things like their fatigue and their endurance," he said. "But the cognitive deficits, those are the ones that seem to last the longest. Sometimes they never go away, and a lot of people have had to permanently adapt in order to continue functioning."
In 2021, researchers at King's College London observed 3,335 voluntary participants by using an online platform. The research showed that participants who had been experiencing long-covid symptoms for 12 weeks or more were found to have significantly larger cognitive deficits - comparable to a 10-year increase in age.
