r/science • u/Wagamaga • Feb 03 '25

Neuroscience Scientists discover that even mild COVID-19 can alter brain proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease, potentially increasing dementia risk—raising urgent public health concerns.

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/260553/covid-19-linked-increase-biomarkers-abnormal-brain/
15.5k Upvotes

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2.4k

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

861

u/RandomUsernameGener8 Feb 03 '25

Hopefully it cancels itself out in your case

286

u/Tolvat Feb 03 '25

Only if he gets it one more time.

98

u/RainDancingChief Feb 03 '25

I know what you're thinking. Did he get six cases or only five? Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself.

13

u/LukesRightHandMan Feb 03 '25

A+ Turner and Hooch reference

27

u/Movie_Slug Feb 03 '25

Its dirty harry

16

u/LukesRightHandMan Feb 04 '25

Haha I know

13

u/Movie_Slug Feb 04 '25

Man I thought there was a chance it was rage bait.

11

u/LukesRightHandMan Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

Game recognize game!

8

u/Catch_22_ Feb 04 '25

Hooch is crazy

1

u/AtotheCtotheG Feb 04 '25

Still pissed he stole Gooch

1

u/DethSonik Feb 04 '25

A+ Ace ventura reference.

44

u/BooksandBiceps Feb 03 '25

Yeah we need that double-double-negative.

However I imagine there’s a very significant amount of research going on for long-COVID now that I hope will bear fruit in the coming decades, and not just on COVID.

44

u/F4STW4LKER Feb 04 '25

Didn't Trump just defund that research and wipe Long COVID information from the CDC website?

22

u/steamwhistler Feb 04 '25

Yeah, Americans and other oppressed peoples will have to rely on data and research from developed countries.

7

u/Tolvat Feb 03 '25

Oh absolutely, I'm looking forward to reading about it all.

18

u/LukesRightHandMan Feb 03 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

If you can still read after we all keep on getting reinfected.

ETA Wear masks. They help.

1

u/farox Feb 03 '25

Those mice will be so happy about that extended life.

1

u/big_duo3674 Feb 03 '25

One more won't help, but if you have the punch card the 5th one is free!

1

u/coolsam254 Feb 04 '25

Cure yourself by forgetting you have alzheimers

28

u/Chompsy1337 Feb 03 '25

Super alzheimers where it achieves interger overflow and becomes the cure for alzheimers. I believe in the unthinkable. 

3

u/Suthek Feb 04 '25

You become super sane and suddenly aware that you're just a character in a comic book.

7

u/konwik Feb 03 '25

Maybe their Alzheimer's will get it's own Alzheimer's and will forget to progress further

9

u/Lawboi53 Feb 03 '25

This guy already forgot he wrote this comment.

1

u/anthr0x1028 Feb 04 '25

Worst case, he forgets all about it.

1

u/Starbuckshakur Feb 04 '25

We call it Three Stooges Syndrome.

145

u/Bealittleprivate Feb 03 '25

I'm certain I've gotten stupider everytime I got it. With some recovery after a few months.

45

u/Molly_Matters Feb 04 '25

Only had it once and I really do feel like it impacted my cognitive ability a great deal. Caught it well before the vaccinations were available. Work in a hospital.

36

u/GoldLurker Feb 04 '25

I've only gotten it once and for that exact damn reason and feeling I have gotten the vaccine every fall.  Idgaf what others think of it.

16

u/will_never_comment Feb 04 '25

While the vaccine is good at preventing death and serious illness, it's not great at protecting issues like that. Masking up is the best to protect your brain and health.

7

u/unbrokenplatypus Feb 04 '25

I seek to recall vaccination is, in fact, excellent vs. long COVID.

12

u/will_never_comment Feb 04 '25

While it does help, it still leaves you open to long covid. Looks like their still needs to be a lot more research done as they are getting mixed results:

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/covid-vaccines-reduce-long-covid-risk-new-study-shows#

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/study-puts-understanding-long-covid-and-vaccination-question

4

u/RBDibP Feb 04 '25

This post seems to be about any case of covid, how mild it may be, so that's not really the point.

1

u/moconahaftmere Feb 04 '25

It does specifically mention the greatest effect was seen in those with severe COVID.

0

u/RBDibP Feb 04 '25

Yeah, but long covid wasn't even mentioned.

79

u/Doctah_Whoopass Feb 04 '25

Same, add in ADHD and my brains gonna be soup by 40. Yippee.

19

u/TheSlatinator33 Feb 04 '25

The good news about ADHD and dementia risk is that research shows those who receive treatment do not show the same increased risk that those who do not do.

26

u/Doctah_Whoopass Feb 04 '25

im unmedicated!

11

u/TheSlatinator33 Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

Me too currently. I'd recommend looking into it if you haven't tried it before. It made a big difference in my ability to manage my symptoms and I only stopped because when I switched doctors my new one thought it wasn't possible for me to have ADHD because I have good grades in university (currently working on addressing this).

4

u/Throckmorton_Left Feb 04 '25

Time to find a new doctor. Find one who treats you not just as a patient but a customer.

2

u/sprikkot Feb 04 '25

what a fucked day to have eyes

1

u/Doctah_Whoopass Feb 04 '25

I managed to graduate with it, but honestly as time goes on I want to look into treatment more. I feel like I have barely actively thought about anything for years now cause it just flies off the rails immediately.

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u/TheSlatinator33 Feb 04 '25

IMO you have to view it outside the lens of just your academic and professional success. If you are reasonably intelligent you should still be able to succeed in these areas despite your condition, however it will likely come at the cost of other areas of your life that reasonably shouldn't have to sacrificed and will harm your overall health. Even if you are doing fine in these other areas, research into ADHD says that those who receive treatments are at lower risk for substance abuse, automobile accidents, and other factors that are likely to reduce longevity and quality of life.

1

u/EdibleCrystals Feb 04 '25

Thats very depressing considering the shortages going on, I haven't been able to get medication consistently for over a year.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 05 '25

[deleted]

1

u/TheSlatinator33 Feb 05 '25

It does indeed. Probably a worthy tradeoff assuming you don't already have elevated Parkinson's risk though.

1

u/etherdesign Feb 04 '25

I'm 47 with ADHD, that checks out.

29

u/stressandscreaming Feb 03 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

I feel you, I had it twice and have one of the earliest signs of Alzheimers a young 30 something can have.

Yay, fear.

9

u/Hobominded Feb 04 '25

If you don't mind me asking, what sign is that? To look out for

19

u/stressandscreaming Feb 04 '25

I have REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

This means I move during REM sleep, something my body should be paralyzed and unable to do. But because of my brain not functioning properly, I don't remain still during dreams. Some symptoms are things such as acting out your dreams, kicking, punching, flailing, jumping out of bed, laughing, talking, and crying.

My poor husband has endured being in an MMA fight with me in my sleep, waking to me crying or screaming or otherwise breaking things around me. If you have it, the first sign will be someone sleeping next to you letting you know. Or like me, waking up with cuts and bruises I don't remember directly injuring myself for.

REM sleep behavior disorder is linked to Alzheimer's disease because it is often considered an early indicator of neurodegeneration in the brain, particularly in areas associated with sleep regulation, and studies have shown that people with RBD have a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia, potentially due to shared underlying brain pathology involving the build-up of abnormal proteins like alpha-synuclein. The abnormal dream-acting behaviors in RBD may reflect a dysfunction in the brain regions affected by Alzheimer's disease. 

6

u/SqeeSqee Feb 04 '25

How long have you had this issue?

10

u/stressandscreaming Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

My mom said I'd kick and flail in my sleep as a child, but I noticed a huge change when I was 19. I punched the wall next to my hand, broke my lamp, and smashed a glass cup sitting on my nightstand before I changed my bedroom layout to be less painful for me.

But my symptoms have increased. They used to be once every couple of months. Now it's every night. Most commonly waking up to my own crying or screaming.

2

u/Gyramuur Feb 04 '25

Huh. I don't really have issues with flailing around, I think. I have a partner who sleeps in the same bed and according to them I sleep pretty normally. But I do wake up with random cuts on my back sometimes. I wonder if it's slightly related.

3

u/stressandscreaming Feb 04 '25

No, not likely. The movement during REM sleep is the requirement for diagnosis because our bodies should be paralyzed during that time.

The wounds I had were on my hands, arms, legs and face because of the movement I am doing being a direct cause of the harm.

Scratches on your back could be from rough sleeping conditions, scratching during sleep due to skin conditions, or even certain medical conditions such as sleepwalking or parasomnia (neither of which are related to REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.)

2

u/NatStrawn Feb 06 '25

My 65 yo dad has REM Sleep Behavior Disorder and his doctors think it is early Alzheimer’s. But every time he takes the Alzheimer’s memory test, they tell him he has the highest score out of anyone they have ever seen. His brain scans are beautiful. He is a retired judge and works as an attorney now. We are all afraid to lose his brain to Alzheimer’s one day bc of the association with REM disorder. If you learn more about it please tell me!

18

u/bubblesaurus Feb 03 '25

I have that and regular old dementia in mine.

Lucky us

25

u/SrslyCmmon Feb 03 '25

Nobody in my family gets that old to find out because of cancer.

Yay us!

17

u/honoria_glossop Feb 04 '25

Same, and IDK if it's just paranoia but I'm *sure* I've lost cognitive capacity since the first and worst time I had it. I can't explain it (and so can't get a doctor to take it seriously) but I just don't feel "all there" any more.

5

u/Ok_Frosting3500 Feb 04 '25

You know what also impairs cognitive function? Stress, depression, and isolation. Which isn't to deny covid brain fog being a thing, but it is worth noting that when we came out of the COVID woods, we emerged into a colder, crueler, emptier world. In some ways, life feels like a shadow because it is the fun house version of our 2014 society. We've lost a lot of our grounding mechanisms and social spheres that made things feel "real".

(which again, isn't to deny the brain fog- it's certainly a real thing. But it's important to be forgiving with yourself and account for psychosomatic factors, to give yourself the best prognosis)

4

u/Forsaken_Bison_8623 Feb 06 '25

Unfortunately every single covid infection causes cognitive damage.

COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-are/

Study shows even mild SARS-CoV-2 infections cause changes in EEG signatures that indicate cognitive decline, also in children and adolescents. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-024-03481-1

February 2024 study in the New England Journal of Medicine that shows that every infection impacts the brain - Very large study that followed 800,000 people over three years. Link to study: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330

Most people don't even realize they are impacted. A recent study showed that all participants had cognitive differences after infection, but none of them realized or recognized it. Scary to think of that at the population level

34 healthy, young volunteers were inoculated and monitored for cognitive changes. They showed lower cognitive scores, w/ significant differences in memory and executive function task for at least a year (when the study ended). None of them reported any difference in cognition or cognitive symptoms. They were all impacted but none of them had any idea. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(24)00421-8/fulltext

13

u/lxm333 Feb 04 '25

Amyloid beta plaques are also found in the brains of people without dementia. The article mentions no causality proven.

28

u/Appropriate_Ad_848 Feb 03 '25

Not to worry soon you’ll forget this information entirely. I will show myself out

9

u/Sussurator Feb 03 '25

Covid the virus that keeps giving

5

u/settlementfires Feb 04 '25

turns out it's a terrible disease.

2

u/altiif Feb 04 '25

Someone won the Alzheimer’s lottery

1

u/O667 Feb 04 '25

Me too - we’re fucked!

Why are we fucked again?

1

u/mrpointyhorns Feb 04 '25

To me, it's interesting because we know other viruses are either linked or cause secondary illness or autoimmune diseases. Like hpv is the main cause of cervical cancer and mono can cause MS. Some viruses are linked to type 1 diabetes including covid.

So, it's interesting to see the baseline prior to a novel virus and after. It makes you wonder what some of the baselines were before viruses became endemic.

1

u/Noseitch Feb 04 '25

On my 4th currently. No history though so far

0

u/EyeOughta Feb 04 '25

“However, the team urges caution with the findings. They explain their observational study is unable to prove any causal links between COVID-19 and dementia. They also stress it is still unclear whether the effect is specific to SARS-CoV-2 infection, or if a similar effect could be associated with other common infections such as influenza or pneumonia.”

0

u/AtotheCtotheG Feb 04 '25

That’s two double negatives, you should be fine