Dementia Worsens COVID-19

Cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's disease and dementia are predominantly found to increase the risk for acquiring severe COVID-19, as per a recent study published in the journal 'Brain, Behavior and Immunity' .

It emphasized the need for protective care among individuals with these pre-existing conditions during the pandemic. The present study was conducted by the University of Georgia to derive health profile similarities among COVID-19 patients and those that tested negative for COVID-19. Other significant risk factors included Type 2 diabetes.

‘Dementia and other cognitive disorders worsen the risk of developing severe COVID-19 and further hospitalization. Genes like ACE2 and TPMPRSS2 being the gateway for the virus to enter a human cell, are thereby found to add on to the risk of COVID-19. ’

With analyzation of nearly 1,000 diseases, this unbiassed study included participants from UK Biobank (UKB) - a large population-based prospective study of more than 5,00,000 participants to investigate genetic and nongenetic determinants of diseases.

The research team also revealed that the SARS-CoV-2 infection-related genetic variations are associated with developing severe COVID-19. This focused on two specific genes - ACE2 and TPMPRSS2, that are crucial for the virus to enter into human cells. Though the exact mechanism was not clear, the senior author of this study, Kaixiong Ye highlighted the importance of these genetic variations with COVID-19.

The author added a note on the different scientific measures that are taken all around the globe in combating COVID-19.

Source: IANS