People suffering from mild cases of Covid-19 may be experiencing symptoms common among those with severe cases, new research has found.
Evidence from 215 studies of Covid-19 indicates a wide range of ways in which Covid-19 can affect mental health and the brain.
And studies have now found that neurological and psychiatric symptoms such as fatigue and depression are common among people with coronavirus and may be just as likely in people with mild cases.
The studies from 30 countries involved a total of 105,638 people with acute symptoms (the main disease stage, rather than longer-term impacts) of Covid-19, including data up to July 2020.
Lead author Dr Jonathan Rogers, of UCL Psychiatry and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We had expected that neurological and psychiatric symptoms would be more common in severe Covid-19 cases, but instead we found that some symptoms appeared to be more common in mild cases.
“It appears that Covid-19 affecting mental health and the brain is the norm, rather than the exception.”
The data reveals that the most common neurological and psychiatric symptoms were anosmia – loss of smell – reported by 43% of patients with the disease, weakness (40%), fatigue (38%), loss of taste (37%), muscle pain (25%), depression (23%), headache (21%) and anxiety (16%).
And more serious neurological disorders including ischaemic stroke (1.9% of cases in the dataset), haemorrhagic stroke (0.4%) and seizure (0.06%) were also identified.
The researchers said it is still possible that such symptoms are just as common in severe cases, as mild symptoms might not be reported by a patient in critical care.
Dr Rogers said: “Many factors could contribute to neurological and psychiatric symptoms in the early stages of infection with Covid-19, including inflammation, impaired oxygen delivery to the brain, and psychological factors. More studies are needed to understand these links better.”
Joint senior author Dr Alasdair Rooney, from the University of Edinburgh, said: “Neurological and psychiatric symptoms are very common in people with Covid-19.
“With millions of people infected globally, even the rarer symptoms could affect substantially more people than in usual times.
“Mental health services and neurological rehabilitation services should be resourced for an increase in referrals.”
The study was led by researchers at UCL, the University of Edinburgh, King’s College London and Queen Mary University of London, with co-authors in the UK, Bulgaria, Canada, India and Germany.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel