r/science 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

469 comments sorted by

View all comments

2.3k

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

15

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.

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