An article published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association cites decades of published scientific evidence to make a compelling case for SARS-CoV-2’s expected long-term effects on the brain and nervous system.
Dementia researchers from UT Health San Antonio are the first and senior authors of the report and are joined by coauthors from the Alzheimer’s Association and Nottingham and Leicester universities in England.
“Since the flu pandemic of 1917 and 1918, many of the flulike diseases have been associated with brain disorders,” said lead author Gabriel A. de Erausquin, MD, PhD, Msc, professor of neurology in the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio. “Those respiratory viruses included H1N1 and SARS-CoV. The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is also known to impact the brain and nervous system.”