People with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are at greater risk of coronavirus

Dementia doubles the risk of contracting the coronavirus. People with dementia are also hospitalized more often and die more often, according to the latest research by scientists at the Cleveland Medical College. One of the reasons is that they forget to wear a mask or wash their hands. There are other reasons as well

1. Dementia doubles the risk of contracting the coronavirus, according to a study by scientists in Cleveland
2. Researchers analyzed the health cards of nearly 62 million adult patients in American hospitals, over one million of them had dementia
3. A greater risk of infection may be due to damage to the blood-brain barrier. People with dementia and Alzheimer’s are also more likely to suffer from additional health conditions that worsen their overall health
4. You can find more up-to-date information on the coronavirus on the Onet homepage

People with dementia are twice as likely to suffer from COVID-19

COVID-19 has already claimed 2,3 million deaths worldwide. Scientists are constantly investigating what affects the greater risk of infection and death from SARS-CoV2 virus.

Researchers from the Cleveland medical school (Case Western Reserve School of Medicine) this time looked at neurological diseases, and their results were published in the journal Alzheimers & Dementia. They found that people with dementia were twice as likely to be infected with COVID-19. They were hospitalized much more often and died more often than people without the condition.

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“ Our research results show how important it is to protect people with dementia from the SARS-CoV2 virus as they are more likely to be severely affected by the coronavirus, ” said study co-author Pamela Davis, a professor at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. The researchers also found that African Americans with dementia were almost three times more likely to contract the virus than white people with the disease.

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The study used the medical records of 61,9 million people in 360 hospitals in the United States through August 2020., data of 317 thousand were also checked. health professionals. Of these, over a million people had dementia, 15 were infected with the coronavirus, and 770 had both dementia and COVID-810.

COVID-19 and dementia: what is the link?

Why are people with dementia more likely to be infected with the coronavirus? According to the authors of the study, there may be several reasons.

A greater risk of infection may be due to damage to the blood-brain barrier. This barrier protects the human nervous system from harmful factors, and in people with Alzheimer’s disease (around 70% of dementia), it is less sealed, so viruses and bacteria have an easier way to the brain.

Added to this is the fact that people with dementia have more trouble remembering to wear a mask, keep their distance or wash their hands frequently.

The third element is the risk factors for dementia, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and hypertension, which are also factors that increase the risk of contracting the coronavirus.

– This research shows a sad reality, full of weaknesses, for people with dementia. It is important that we develop a strategy that will both protect people with Alzheimer’s disease from the coronavirus and reduce the harmfulness resulting from their social isolation, said Dr. Maria Carrillo from the American Alzheimer’s Association.

This may interest you:

1. The first symptoms of dementia. They must not be missed
2. The virus attacks and destroys the nervous system and psyche
3. COVID-19 – Effects. Hallucinations, delusions, “brain fog”

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