New research has shown that COVID-19 has been causing brain fog and memory loss in patients for more than a year.
The study found that about 20 percent of those with long-term COVID-19 may experience brain impairment for at least 12 months without improvement.
Long-term COVID-19 is classified as having symptoms such as fog, fatigue, and shortness of breath one month after contracting the virus.
People with long-term COVID-19 have been experiencing debilitating symptoms for more than a year. (Supplied)
Professor Bruce Brew of St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney said researchers had analyzed 128 patients for 12 months and found that the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the brain did not go away after a year.
“We’re hoping it will take another year or less to see any improvement in his condition, but we just don’t know,” he said.
“The study also identified a marker of cognitive impairment: a nerve toxin in a particular pathway in the brain, which opens up the possibility of reusing existing drugs to modulate that toxin, which could potentially give us treatment.”
A long-term COVID-19 clinic has been set up at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. (9 News)
Brew added that those with a long COVID-19 did not necessarily get sick with the virus when they had it.
“There is a common misconception that if you are not seriously ill with COVID, you will not experience brain fog, but in our new study one in ten of those who suffered from COVID for a long time were not hospitalized,” he said.
Professor Steven Faux is helping lead the long-running COVID clinic at St. Vincent’s Hospital and said he is seeing between eight and ten new patients a week with the disease, mostly young people.
“What we’re finding is that it’s actually affecting younger people, and it’s very hard for them to be able to keep working,” he said.
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The researchers added that COVID-19 has long had debilitating effects on patients and that symptoms have been compared to traumatic brain injury.
“The impact of the long COVID on some is significant. I had a patient, an entrepreneur who had to sell his business because he could no longer focus on contracts and negotiations during meetings,” Brew said.
“We’re seeing people with slow thought processes and confusion that is very similar to a traumatic brain injury,” Faux added.