A new study suggests that the health of more than six million older Americans has found COVID-19, nearly doubles a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The findings add that SARS-CoV-2 infections can affect the progression of several neurodegenerative diseases.
Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and co-author on the new study Pamela Davis explained that “infection with SARS-CoV-2 has been associated with central nervous system abnormalities including inflammation, we wanted to test whether, even in the short term, COVID could lead to increased diagnoses.”
This research analyzed the health records of 6,245,282 Americans aged over 65 years. Over the following 360 days, those COVID survivors were 69% more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease compared to those uninfected. The increased Alzheimer’s risk was highest in women and those over the age of 85 years.
