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A major study suggests that long Covid can cause sufferers’ IQ to drop six points.
UK researchers found losses for patients who said they had suffered from Covid symptoms for more than 12 weeks compared to those who said they had never had the virus.
They also calculated a loss of three IQ points among those who said they had Covid symptoms for up to 12 weeks, and nine IQ points for those admitted to the ICU during their infection compared to those who said they were not infected.
Experts suggested that long-term symptoms of the virus could indicate that someone has high levels of inflammation, which can damage the brain by causing stress on brain cells.
The researchers said: “Our results confirmed associations of cognitive deficits with mood changes and fatigue, but also with a variety of other symptoms.”
“Therefore, multiple underlying factors are likely contributing to cognitive deficits after Covid.”
Long Covid is an ill-defined disease that is notoriously difficult to diagnose, and some doctors even say it does not exist (file image)
Long Covid is an ill-defined disease and very difficult to diagnose, and some doctors even say it does not exist.
Patients suffering from the syndrome complain of a wide variety of symptoms including persistent fatigue, mental confusion, and inability to continue with their normal lives.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine — calculated a ‘global cognition score’ for participants, which was then used to generate an IQ score.
Estimates suggest that the average person in the US has an IQ of around 98, with men scoring slightly higher than women.
This suggests that people who say they have long Covid may have an IQ of around 93 points, while those who previously had Covid could have an IQ of around 95 points.
An IQ score is a numerical measure of a person’s intelligence based on a battery of reasoning, problem-solving, memory, and linguistic tests.
But it has limitations, including that it has difficulty capturing other areas of intelligence, such as creativity and emotional intelligence, and that people who take it regularly become more familiar with the test, resulting in a higher score.
For the study, scientists sent a request to complete eight cognitive tests to a random group of more than 800,000 people registered with the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).
More than 110,000 responded, including more than 3,000 people who said their Covid symptoms had persisted for more than 12 weeks, which the researchers defined as “Long Covid.”
The majority of participants were women between 50 and 60 years old and of white ethnic origin.
Most were also infected, while Omicron was the dominant variant and almost 1,500 had been hospitalized with the virus. A total of 300 participants reported being admitted to the ICU.
They completed eight tests to measure mental abilities, including memory, spatial working memory, and verbal reasoning, among others.
Other results included that participants who reported having had early Covid were more likely to suffer cognitive decline compared to those in other groups.
Limitations of the study included that it did not have data on people’s cognitive ability before contracting Covid, meaning comparisons were not possible.