Research: Corona can damage the nervous system more than Alzheimer's and dementia Israel today

A place to worry?

A study conducted at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York showed that adults who have contracted coronary heart disease are more likely to be neurologically affected by the virus than people who develop dementia and Alzheimer's. 

The study was conducted in 2020 on 251 patients who fell ill in Corona between March and May.

Prior to infection the patients showed no manifestation of memory impairment or onset of Alzheimer’s.

Patients were divided into groups of people with no neurological symptoms.

In the short term, seven signs of brain damage were seen to be higher in Corona patients than in Alzheimer’s patients.

Prof. Jennifer Pronta, author of the article, said that "the findings show that patients who have been hospitalized due to the corona virus and especially patients who show neurological damage - have a high potential for brain damage, from people who begin a process of degenerative Alzheimer's."

Corona Department at Shaare Zedek Medical Center // Archive photo: Oren Ben Hakon,

The study supports and confirms findings already published in 2021 by the San Antonio Medical Center in the U.S. Doctors studied young patients who experienced neurological symptoms during coronary heart disease, and found that they were likely to have brain and functional effects related to anxiety and depression.

The researchers further noted that older people who contracted corona, aged 60-70, had symptoms reminiscent of the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

It is important to note that while most people who have had corona recover and go through the disease without any special symptoms or damage, a certain percentage of patients have long-term corona effects that last for months after the disease itself.

The symptoms in these people are brain fog, memory problems, chronic fatigue and other neurological symptoms.

These conditions occur in up to a third of patients and here is the big concern: Researchers wonder if later in life these damages have an effect on brain function, damages that will only be seen in the future but that may produce new damages among recovering people unfamiliar to us.

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