Premium
COVID‐19 and cognitive impairment in the elderly: A literature review
Author(s) -
Veerapaneni Seshagiri,
Raji Mukaila
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1002/alz.055584
Subject(s) - dementia , subclinical infection , pandemic , medicine , causation , cognition , covid-19 , cognitive decline , intensive care medicine , natural history , affect (linguistics) , psychiatry , pediatrics , psychology , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , political science , law , communication
Background COVID‐19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on the 11th of March 2020, and it represents an unprecedented immediate and persistent threat to our health care systems. Emerging data reveals neurological symptoms and subclinical cognitive dysfunction and the development of dementia or worsening of it coming to light in the elderly. Method An exhaustive search of scientific publications, which included original articles and reports was conducted using the online search databases like Pub Med, with search terms used being neurologic manifestations of COVID‐19, neurological complications of novel coronavirus 2019, with relevant articles analyzed for a possible neurological syndrome related to COVID‐19. Based on specific selection criteria the relationship between COVID‐19 and the nervous system was established and a brief narrative literature review was done. Result There has been convincing evidence that SARS‐CoV‐2, the etiologic agent of COVID‐19 can affect the nervous system with consequent damage and neurologic alterations with causation of cognitive decline and worsening of dementia in the elderly survivors. Conclusion Based on evidence gathered from scientific literature, this review raises a possibility of nervous system involvement in COVID‐19 with progression to dementia or worsening of existing Dementia especially in the elderly patients. Longitudinal neurological assessments of patients after recovery will be crucial in understanding the natural History of COVID‐19 in the CNS and monitoring for potential neurologic sequalae and long‐term effects on causation and worsening of dementia. The literature review also states the need to start investigating the mechanistic link between Alzheimer's disease and COVID‐19 for further follow up.