A recent study revealed that up to 34% of recovered COVID patients show signs of neurological disease or psychological defects. According to the study, these symptoms usually appear within six months of contracting the virus.

The study was published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry where it quickly became a real eye-opener as well as a source of panic. 

The most prominent defects were anxiety and mood disorders. Anxiety accounted for 17% of the diagnosis while 14% of patients suffered from mood disorders.

Maxime Taquet who is a co-author of the new study offered a comment of clarity that reads 

“Our results indicate that brain diseases and psychiatric disorders are more common after COVID-19 than after flu or other respiratory infections, even when patients are matched for other risk factors. We now need to see what happens beyond six months.”

She also added the percentage of neurological complications leaps to 39% when the health records of hospitalized patients are included. 

Experts have confirmed this to be the largest study yet, having included the electronic health records of over 236,000 COVID-19 patients. The bulk of the data was extracted from US health records. 

Masud Husain who is a professor of neurology and cognitive science at the University of Oxford and a co-author of the study said 

“It’s really the people with very severe illness who are at higher risk of developing the neurological complications, unlike what we see with the mental health complications, which is much more across the board with severity. “

While the study has been highly rated by many health professionals, it is still a subject of much criticism. The chief criticism is that it may have made a premature declaration as much of the variables are still missing.

Health officials are still yet to decipher the relationship between COVID-19 and neurological illnesses. However, Taquet had already highlighted insufficient information as a concern and says she will persist to try to fill in the blanks.