Alzheimer's and COVID: Is There a Link?

Insights and discussion from the cutting edge with reference to journal articles and other research papers.
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mike
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Alzheimer's and COVID: Is There a Link?

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Older adults with COVID-19 were more likely to have a new diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease a year later than non-infected people, an analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) data showed.
https://content.iospress.com/articles/j ... /jad220717
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Re: Alzheimer's and COVID: Is There a Link?

Post by NF52 »

mike wrote: Fri Sep 16, 2022 2:27 pm
Older adults with COVID-19 were more likely to have a new diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease a year later than non-infected people, an analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) data showed.


https://content.iospress.com/articles/j ... /jad220717
Thanks for sharing this.

It's probably not surprising that this was found, especially because the study used data from between 2/2/2020–5/30/2021,. That seems to indicate that the diagnosis of AD happened by May 2021, with COVID occurring anywhere from days to a year before. Most of these people would have been unvaccinated with no antiviral treatments to support their immune system. It makes intuitive sense that the risk was significantly higher in people ≥ 85 years old, whose immune systems are more likely to be compromised and who in some studies, have a 50% chance of having Alzheimer's pathology or other signs of neuronal loss, even without a diagnosis of dementia.

The rate given for that "oldest-old" group with COVID was a diagnosis of AD rate of 2.01% in (1,189/59,110) vs a rate in the non-COVID group of 1.33% (812/61,032)

The risk of those ages 65-74 was far lower: just slightly under 2 in 1000 people: 0.20% (416/213,503) while the risk of an AD diagnosis in those 65-74 who did not get COVID was just over 1 in 1000: 0.13% (359/213,814).

It seems likely to support those recommendations that people over 65 continue to get boosters--and to advance research on how COVID, or the immune system or vascular system effects of COVID can trigger cognitive impairment.
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