1 in 3 Covid Survivors Suffer Psychiatric or Neurological Disorders

A study which was published in the Lancet Psychiatry found one in three people who were severely ill with coronavirus were subsequently diagnosed with a neurological or psychiatric condition within six months of infection. 

The observational research, which is the largest of its kind, used electronic health records of 236,379 patients mostly from the US and found 34% experienced mental health and neurological conditions afterwards. 

The most common diagnoses after Covid were anxiety disorders (occurring in 17% of patients), mood disorders (14%), substance misuse disorders (7%), and insomnia (5%). The incidence of neurological outcomes such as stroke and dementia were rarer, but not uncommon in those who had been seriously ill during infection, including 0.6% for a brain haemorrhage and 0.7% for dementia. 

Although the individual risks for most disorders are small, the effect across the whole population may be substantial for health and social care systems due to the scale of the pandemic and that many of these conditions are chronic. As a result, health care systems need to be resourced to deal with the anticipated need, both within primary and secondary care services. 

In yesterday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg match against Real Madrid, the Reds showed they were second-best when the latter easily thumped them 3-1. 

This leaves Liverpool with a mountain to climb in the return leg at an empty Anfield on April 14.