Research: Memory problems after Covid19 in people with loss of smell

People who continue to have a loss of smell after an infection Covid-19 -regardless of the severity of the disease- they are also more likely to experience memory loss and other cognitive problems, compared to those who never lost their sense of smell when they got sick with coronavirus or quickly recovered it. This is the conclusion of a new scientific study from Argentina, according to which the persistent loss of smell - despite the severity of the infection - is a better indicator of the possibility of long-term cognitive and especially memory symptoms after Covid-19.

A common symptom of coronavirus infection is a sudden loss of smell. Previous studies have linked such loss to warning signs of Alzheimer's disease. The evidence shows that the Covid-19 it can also lead to chronic neurological problems such as memory loss and difficulty concentrating. The new study confirms that the loss of smell due to Covid-19 associated with such persistent cognitive symptoms.

The researchers, led by Dr. Gabriela Gonzalez-Aleman of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires, who made the announcement at an international Alzheimer's conference in California, analyzed data on 766 people over the age of 60 with no history of cognitive decline. Of these, 90% had tested positive for the coronavirus by a molecular test and had also undergone an olfactory test as well as cognitive tests at least three months after infection Covid-19.

It was found that two-thirds of the people who had passed Covid-19, they subsequently experienced some form of memory impairment, and for about half the problem was severe enough to affect their daily lives. People with a complete loss of smell (anosmia) three months after coronavirus infection were about one and a half times more likely to have memory problems and other cognitive impairments than those who had either never lost their sense of smell during the Covid-19, or they had recovered it quickly.

The new findings strengthen the view that the coronavirus can affect the brain through the nose, according to scientists.

But since most brain cells lack the ACE2 receptor that the coronavirus normally uses to infect cells, it is unclear whether the memory and other cognitive symptoms are due to the virus directly infecting the brain. It is possible that the coronavirus, after infecting the cells of the nose, causing inflammation and dysfunction in the olfactory neurons and by extension loss of smell, can then penetrate through these nerve cells into the brain, causing additional cognitive-memory problems.

Source: RES-EAP