People who contract COVID-19 have an increased risk of neurodegenerative disorders compared to individuals who have not had the virus, a European conference has heard.
A Danish study, presented at the 8th European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress, Vienna, Austria, analysed the health records of more than half of the Danish population and found individuals who had tested positive for the virus increased their risk of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and ischaemic stroke.
The study analysed in- and outpatients in Denmark between February 2020 and November 2021, as well as influenza patients from the corresponding pre-pandemic period.
Out of the 919,731 individuals who tested positive, 43,375 of those had a 3.5 times increased risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, 2.6 times with Parkinson’s disease, 2.7 times with ischaemic stroke and a 4.8 times increased risk with intracerebral haemorrhage.
Lead author Dr Pardis Zarifkar, of the Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, said: “More than two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the precise nature and evolution of the effects of COVID-19 on neurological disorders remained uncharacterised.
“Previous studies have established an association with neurological syndromes, but until now it is unknown whether COVID-19 also influences the incidence of specific neurological diseases and whether it differs from other respiratory infections.”
The increased risk of most neurological diseases was no higher in COVID-19 positive patients than in people who had been diagnosed with influenza or other respiratory illnesses, although they had a 1.7 times increased risk of ischaemic stroke compared to influenza and bacterial pneumonia inpatients over 80 years of age.
“We found support for an increased risk of being diagnosed with neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular disorders in COVID-19 positive compared to COVID-negative patients, which must be confirmed or refuted by large registry studies in the near future,” continued Dr Zarifkar.
“Reassuringly, apart for ischemic stroke, most neurological disorders do not appear to be more frequent after COVID-19 than after influenza or community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.
“These findings will help to inform our understanding of the long-term effect of COVID-19 on the body and the role that infections play in neurodegenerative diseases and stroke.”
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