A survey conducted by the Institute of the Heart (InCor) earlier this year found that 80% of patients who have recovered from Covid-19 experience cognitive consequences, such as memory loss, slowed thinking and difficulty with attention and concentration.
“Difficulty commonly occurs in recent memories. Like what people will look for, what they will say, what they will do,” says Renata Ramina, a neurologist at Pilar Hospital. “There are cognitive effects on memory, attention, and executive functions that can lead to difficulties managing medications, managing finances, understanding written material, and even conversations with friends and family,” he comments.
The doctor points out that there are at least four pathogenic mechanisms that could be responsible for the detrimental effect of Covid-19 on the central nervous system: direct viral encephalitis (acute inflammatory process in the brain), systemic inflammation, and dysfunction of peripheral organs such as such Liver, kidney, lung or cerebral vascular changes.
With injury, there can be a persistent impairment in sustained attention such as the ability to pay attention to important information.
