Fear mongering. You would be wise to heed Trump's advice
Most hospitalized Covid patients have neurological symptoms, study says
The study also raises questions about the long-term effects of the disease.
Neurological symptoms are extremely common among Covid-19 patients sick enough to be hospitalized, a study published Monday finds.
The symptoms range from mild to severe, and can include headaches, dizziness and altered brain function, according to the study in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
The findings highlight the wide-ranging effects the virus can have on the body. What's more, the study found that patients may continue to experience these symptoms long after they recover from the disease.
The news comes on the same day President Donald Trump left Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being hospitalized for three days. His physicians have made no indication that the president has experienced any major neurological symptoms.
In the study, researchers at Northwestern Medicine looked back at the first 509 patients hospitalized within their network of 10 hospitals and medical centers in Chicago in March and April. Just over a quarter had been put on ventilators.
A majority of 509 patients — 82 percent — developed problems stemming from the nervous system. "That means 4 out of 5 hospitalized patients in our hospital system at the beginning of the pandemic had those neurologic problems," said Dr. Igor Koralnik, a co-author of the study and chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine.
Muscle pain was reported by nearly 44.8 percent of patients, and 37.7 percent complained of headaches.
Just under a third of patients developed a more serious type of neurological problem: encephalopathy, or altered brain function.
Problems ranged from mild symptoms, such as difficulty with attention, short-term memory, concentration and multitasking abilities, "all the way to confusion, stupor and coma," Koralnik said.
More severe brain function issues were more likely to occur in older patients over 65.
"This confirms that neurological manifestations are common. That is important," Dr. Alejandro Rabinstein, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic, said.
