Long-term COVID-19 side-effects may include memory loss, brain fog: research

A recent study found that long-term COVID-19 patients may experience side effects scientists have dubbed “brain fog” months after their diagnosis.

Memory loss and other cognitive dysfunctions are often considered part of the brain fog, according to the Mount Sinai Health System’s study that was released on Friday. 

The study, which was published by the JAMA Network Open, included 740 patients who got COVID-19 and tested participants’ memory using the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test, which provides participants with a series of words to determine how many they are able to recall. Other methods like the Number Span test were also used to determine how many numbers participants could recall after seeing them on a screen.

The study did not specify if people who participated were vaccinated. Testing began in April 2020, before vaccines were available, and continued into May 2021. 

About one-fourth of patients had cognitive deficits related to memory encoding, or storing sensory experiences as memories, and 23 percent had trouble with memory recall, or accessing and retrieving memories that were already stored. 

On average, the study’s participants were about 7.6 months past their initial COVID-19 diagnosis. They were also relatively young, with an average age of 49. 

However, a “substantial proportion” of patients in the study still showed cognitive dysfunction months after recovering from COVID-19 despite the coronavirus’s known impact on older populations in particular. 

The study found that other side effects that were common for COVID-19 long-haulers included difficulty with processing speed, executive functioning, and category fluency. Hospitalized patients were significantly more likely to struggle with some of these side effects like attention and memory recall than their non-hospitalized counterparts, the study also found. 

Other lingering side effects included trouble breathing, abdominal issues, fatigue, pain, anxiety and depression, according to USA Today.