ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Previous research on the effects of COVID-19 found it linked to heart attack, heart failure, brain fog, diabetes, and gastrointestinal issues. But now researchers have found a more dangerous link to mental health, especially if the patient is unvaccinated.
When you think of the effects of COVID-19 or long COVID you think of coughing and sneezing, but what about your mental health?
“So it’s really the neurologic manifestations that we’ve been able to characterize following SARS-CoV-2 infection that fall under the umbrella of long COVID are much wider in scope than just plain fact that most people talk about,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, clinical epidemiologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Studies found that people who had COVID are much more likely to have incidents of depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, opioid use disorders, and other substance abuse disorders. But do vaccines help?
“Vaccine reduces the risk, but does not eliminate the risk of these manifestations,” stated Dr. Al-Aly
Unvaccinated people who were hospitalized due to COVID were over 15 times more likely to have an incident of depression, compared to over 12 times for vaccinated hospitalized people.
“You can think of it as the one when the tsunami hits and the water recedes, or when that earthquake stops or the earth stop shaking. You’re going to be left with a damage,” explained Dr. Al-Aly.
It is each person’s choice but they need to be aware of the risks when they make that choice.
Dr. Al-Aly has another new study on the effect of long COVID on every organ system years later. He found the risk of death was no longer present in non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients three years after infection, but the risk of death remained elevated after three years for those who were hospitalized.
Contributors to this news report include: Marcy Wilder, Associate Producer; Roque Correa, Editor.
Sources:
https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2024.2339
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2021-068993
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-02987-8
* For More Information, Contact: Ziyad Al-Aly, MD
Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis
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