Study Finds Cognitive Impairment in Long COVID patients

A new study out of England has found that those with chronic COVID-19 symptoms (known colloquially as “Long COVID”) score about 6 IQ points below those who have never gotten infected with COVID-19. Patients with Long Covid often complain of memory problems and brain fog, making the findings of this study clinically relevant. While the cognitive deficits from Long COVID noted in this study were relatively minor, researchers found that even these small impairments can be significantly detrimental in patients’ day to day lives. Encouragingly, patients whose Long COVID symptoms had resolved, even if these symptoms had been present for more than a year, were found to have test scores similar to those who were infected but did not present with Long COVID. This demonstrates that cognitive impairments can be reversed upon recovery from Long COVID. Notably, the highest cognitive impairments in the study were found in those who were infected with COVID-19 early in the pandemic, prior to the development of vaccines and antiviral treatments.

To read the full article by Pam Belluck of The New York Times, click here. 

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