Nearly One-Third of Covid Patients in Study Had Altered Mental State
The hospitalized patients showed signs of deteriorating neurological function, ranging from confusion to coma-like unresponsiveness, new research indicates.
Oct. 5, 2020
Nearly a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function — ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness — in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system
After they were discharged, only 32 percent of the patients with altered mental function were able to handle routine daily activities like cooking and paying bills, said Dr. Igor Koralnik, the senior author of the study and chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine. In contrast, 89 percent of patients without altered mental function were able to manage such activities without assistance.
Patients with altered mental function — the medical term is encephalopathy — were also nearly seven times as likely to die as those who did not have that type of problem.
“Encephalopathy is a generic term meaning something’s wrong with the brain,” Dr. Koralnik said. The description can include problems with attention and concentration, loss of short-term memory, disorientation, stupor and “profound unresponsiveness” or a coma-like level of consciousness.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/healt...ticleShare
Probably not the case with the president but something to be watchful for.
The hospitalized patients showed signs of deteriorating neurological function, ranging from confusion to coma-like unresponsiveness, new research indicates.
Oct. 5, 2020
Nearly a third of hospitalized Covid-19 patients experienced some type of altered mental function — ranging from confusion to delirium to unresponsiveness — in the largest study to date of neurological symptoms among coronavirus patients in an American hospital system
After they were discharged, only 32 percent of the patients with altered mental function were able to handle routine daily activities like cooking and paying bills, said Dr. Igor Koralnik, the senior author of the study and chief of neuro-infectious disease and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine. In contrast, 89 percent of patients without altered mental function were able to manage such activities without assistance.
Patients with altered mental function — the medical term is encephalopathy — were also nearly seven times as likely to die as those who did not have that type of problem.
“Encephalopathy is a generic term meaning something’s wrong with the brain,” Dr. Koralnik said. The description can include problems with attention and concentration, loss of short-term memory, disorientation, stupor and “profound unresponsiveness” or a coma-like level of consciousness.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/05/healt...ticleShare
Probably not the case with the president but something to be watchful for.