Even a Mild COVID Infection Shrinks the Brain

We've known that despite COVID-nineteen being a respiratory disease, the virus attacks the heart, fat cells, small intestine, and most other organs including the brain. Genetic sequences of the SARS-CoV-two virus have been found all over the body two hundred days after a person is first infected. And now a study shows even a mild infection can cause brain shrinkage equivalent to a decade of aging. That's disturbing especially now that people are arguing for natural immunity, avoid mask wearing and discourage others from wearing one. While natural immunity can protect them from reinfection in the near term, there's still the health risks to consider.

So far nearly 1 million people in the US have died from COVID. And some who recover face the risk of long-haul COVID. This new study looked at nearly 800 people aged 51 to 81 for brain impacts.

MRI scans of their brains were taken 3 years apart, the first just before the pandemic. During that time, over half tested positive for COVID and only 15 had to be hospitalized. So, most were mild cases. In the second MRI scan, those who had had the infection showed a significant loss of brain matter. Loss of brain cells with age is normal but only at a rate of point two to point three percent each year.

In this group the loss was from .2 to a whopping 2 percent. Two percent is equal to losing 10 years of brain matter from a COVID infection sometime in those 3 years. While it's too early to say the damage is permanent, it's alarming and needs more study.