Alzheimer’s-like changes seen in Covid-19 patients’ brains
This undated electron microscope image made available by the US National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the virus that causes Covid-19. [AP]
Small studies have found that people who die of severe Covid-19 have brain abnormalities that resemble changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease – accumulation of a protein called tau inside brain cells, and abnormal amounts of the protein beta-amyloid that forms amyloid plaques.
In all the studies, patients had experienced the most severe forms of Covid-19. If similar changes happen in the brains of patients with milder illness, that might help explain the “brain fog” associated with long Covid, said Dr Andrew Marks of Columbia University.
Patients with severe Covid-19 might be at higher risk for dementia later in life, but it is too soon to know, Marks added. [AP]
