We all know that some people are more at risk of suffering from complications due to COVID-19 than others are. And we all know that senior citizens tend to have been hit the hardest by the virus–on many levels. Scientists are beginning to learn a little bit more about why this is. Earlier this year, a report indicated that people with comorbidities are at a higher level of risk than other populations when it comes to the novel coronavirus. It turns out, this is just a part of the complicated puzzle that is COVID-19.
In this new bit of discovery, researchers found that individuals that have suffered from a stroke or are in an altered mental state when they have COVID tend to have a much higher mortality rate than other individuals. For purposes of this study, altered mental state can be dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and even confusion. People that have suffered from a stroke also fit into this category because of the cellular death that can occur in brain cells after a stroke. All of these individuals tend to be more likely to suffer severe complications when it comes to the virus, making them at a higher risk of dying from the illness. This was discovered after comparing people within this population to individuals of the same age without neurological complications.
Now that doctors know this, they have a slightly better target for how to identify people that are at higher risk of complications from COVID. Not only can this help doctors prioritize who to treat when there are large increases in infection numbers, it can also help doctors intervene earlier with those that are at a higher risk, and perhaps save a lot more lives as a result.
Neurological damage, from dementia or a stroke, tends to lead to more complications in COVID-19 patients.
Another interesting find that this study pointed to was that the coronavirus itself may be a factor for prompting a stroke. Many of the people that were looked at in this study that had suffered from a stroke did not suffer from high blood pressure or any other risk factor of stroke. This is not the first study to point to this, but researchers found themselves agreeing with earlier studies that indicate that COVID-19 might actually be a risk factor for inducing a stroke. Again, this information will only help doctors to better protect people moving forward.
This team of researchers was based out of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. Their results were shared in the medical journal, Neurology.
When a loved one is suffering, finding them the right care is important. It doesn’t matter what they are dealing with, you want them to be entrusted to a team of individuals that has the knowledge, expertise, and resources to help them. In-home care can be a valuable component of this team. If you’d like to learn more about what this is and how it might apply to your family’s situation, please let us know. We’d love to help you get started in your search for a strong team of specialists that are fighting for your family.
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