With so much unknown about these persistent COVID effects, it might feel like a hard road to get diagnosed and treated. So although these symptoms do seem to improve within a year for a small number of patients, "about a year after COVID, we're still seeing a large subset of people who are complaining of cognitive deficits," she said. In a study published this past October in JAMA Network Open, Becker and her colleagues found that many patients (including those who weren't hospitalized) still had issues with things like memory and processing speed more than seven months after their diagnoses. It's not clear yet how long these cognitive deficits typically last, Becker said, adding that longer-term studies are sorely needed. And he said that puzzle games like Wordle and sudoku, while certainly not cures, can "promote brain health and be helpful to people with long COVID." He also recommends people pursue computerized cognitive training on their own.
"Those sorts of things we see a lot, and that's really why we worry about cognitive function."Ĭognitive rehabilitation won't necessarily cure your post-COVID issues, but "you're going to learn strategies and work-around solutions to minimize the impact of your cognitive impairment," Jackson said. Those impacts might show up as new difficulties keeping track of tasks at work, forgetting to take medication, trouble managing finances or issues while driving, Jackson said. There's no hard rule here, but if you've been dealing with mild cognitive symptoms for a few months, Jackson said it's time to check in with your doctor.īut if your symptoms are noticeably impacting your life, you shouldn't wait to speak to a medical professional. So, having underlying conditions (like heart disease, hypertension or diabetes) as well as poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle can all contribute to your overall risk for cognitive issues due to COVID-19 or other causes, she explained.
So Becker's team is currently working on a study that compares people who did and didn't get COVID-19 during the same time period to help tease out the specific cognitive effects of the virus on its own.Īpart from that, "the other risk factors for having cognitive impairments still apply," Becker said. Of course, the chronic stress of the pandemic e xacerbated or triggered mental health issues in many people.
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