Connect
To Top

Dementia: Another Risk Factor of a Severe COVID-19 Infection

Medicare

Buzz around the Coronavirus pandemic doesn’t seem to be calming down. Every other day some new discovery is made, which leaves people either scared or hopeful for a better future. But sadly, what’s entailed in this post might leave you a bit worried.

dementia-covid-1

Getty Images | While everyone is at equal risk to contract the Coronavirus, the elderly are at a higher risk

Since the commencement of the pandemic, we’ve all been hearing that people with comorbidities like diabetes, cancer, and lung diseases are more prone to contract the infection, isn’t it? However, now you can add one more condition to the list. A recent study published on February 9, 2021, has found that people with dementia are at a higher risk of being infected by the virus.

Join us as we make you familiar with the new research. 

Read – Does Wearing 2 Masks Protect Against COVID-19 Better Than One?

Findings of the new study

The research regarding dementia as a risk factor of COVID-19 was done while analyzing nearly 61.9 million people’s electronic health records from February 1, 2020, to August 21, 2020. All the participants were above the age of 18, and they represented approximately one-fifth of the US population. 

dementia-covid-2

Adobe Stock | A study reports that in addition to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and asthma, people with dementia are twice as likely to be infected by COVID-19

Through the study, researchers inferred that in addition to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and asthma, people with dementia were twice as likely to be infected by the Coronavirus as compared to those who don’t have it. In terms of the severity of the infection in such people, researchers said that there are 4.4% more chances that people with dementia can die from the disease as compared to those who don’t have it. 

Read – Here’s Why Diabetes Can Make Coronavirus More Severe

Despite the oddity, the study didn’t come as a surprise. Throughout the pandemic, experts have been speculating that people with dementia are not only more prone to get the infection but can be seriously impaired from it.  

Even more risky – people with vascular dementia

In the same research, it’s also been deduced that people with vascular dementia are at a greater risk of contracting the infection as compared to people suffering from other types of dementia.

Vascular dementia is caused by conditions that reduce blood flow or that damage blood vessels (just like when a stroke blocks an artery, over time, blood vessels get damaged).

dementia-covid-3

Medical News Today | It’s also been deduced that people with vascular dementia are at a greater risk to contract the infection

To sum it up

Dementia is a condition characterized by a decline in mental ability. And the most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. As experts say, COVID-19 infection can turn out to be risky for people with dementia. Also, since in dementia, there’s a need for assistance in the patients’ daily activities, social distancing can be hard to comply with. 

We can take away from these findings that we should encourage more people to take protective measures like wearing masks and have wider adoption of vaccination. 

More inMedicare

Related Items

You must be logged in to post a comment Login