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MONDAY, Oct. 5, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
As President Donald Trump battles the coronavirus, researchers reveal concerning new findings: Neurological symptoms occur in 8 of 10 hospitalized COVID-19<\/a> patients.<\/p>\n These symptoms include muscle pain<\/a>, headaches<\/a>, dizziness<\/a>, encephalopathy<\/a> and “brain fog<\/a>.”<\/p>\n “Encephalopathy<\/a>, which is characterized by altered mental function ranging from mild confusion<\/a> to coma<\/a>, is the most severe neurologic manifestation of COVID-19<\/a>,” said study co-author Dr. Igor Koralnik. He oversees the Neuro COVID-19<\/a> Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.<\/p>\n It’s not known whether Trump is suffering from any of these neurological problems. He was admitted Friday to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., for treatment of COVID-19<\/a>. Meanwhile, First Lady Melania Trump and a number of senior U.S. officials have also tested positive for the new coronavirus.<\/p>\n For this new study, the researchers analyzed the charts of more than 500 patients hospitalized for COVID-19<\/a> within the Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine health system. The investigators identified neurological symptoms in 42% of patients when their COVID-19<\/a> symptoms surfaced, 63% of patients when hospitalized, and 82% of patients at any time during the course of COVID-19.<\/p>\n Many patients reported muscle pain<\/a> (45%) and headaches<\/a> (38%). Encephalopathy and dizziness<\/a> were seen in almost one-third of patients. The study also found 16% had taste disorders<\/a> and 11% had smell disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n After discharge from the hospital, only 32% of patients with encephalopathy were able to care for their own affairs, compared to 89% of those who didn’t develop encephalopathy, the findings showed.<\/p>\n Also, the death rate in patients with encephalopathy was much higher (about 22%) than in those without encephalopathy (3%), according to the study.<\/p>\n “We are now looking to characterize the long-term neurologic effects of COVID-19 and the cognitive outcomes in patients with COVID-19-associated encephalopathy,” Koralnik said in a hospital news release. He is chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine.<\/p>\n “We’re studying this in patients who are discharged from the hospital, as well as in COVID-19 ‘long-haulers,’ who have never been hospitalized but also suffer from a similar range of neurological problems, including brain fog<\/a>,” he added.<\/p>\n The report was published Oct. 5 in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology<\/i>. The findings will help shape long-term care for people who suffer from neurological complications of COVID-19, Koralnik said.<\/p>\n “Patients and clinicians need to be aware of the high frequency of neurologic manifestations of COVID-19 and the severity of altered mental function associated with this disease,” he noted.<\/p>\n — Robert Preidt<\/p>\n![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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