Covid-19 raises risk of depression and dementia, study suggests

People diagnosed with Covid-19 in the previous six months were more likely to develop depression, dementia, psychosis and stroke, researchers have found.

A third of those with a previous Covid infection went on to develop or have a relapse of a psychological or neurological condition. 

But those admitted to hospital or in intensive care had an even higher risk.

This is likely to be down to both the effects of stress, and the virus having a direct impact on the brain.

UK scientists looked at the electronic medical records of more than half a million patients in the US, and their chances of developing one of 14 common psychological or neurological conditions, including:

brain haemorrhage

stroke

Parkinson's 

Guillain-Barré syndrome 

dementia

psychosis

mood disorders

anxiety disorders 

Anxiety and mood disorders were the most common diagnosis among those with Covid, and these were more likely to be down to the stress of the experience of being very ill or taken to hospital, the researchers explained.

Conditions like stroke and dementia were more likely to be down to the biological impacts of the virus itself, or of the body's reaction to infection in general. 

Covid-19 was not associated with an increased risk of Parkinson's or Guillain-Barré syndrome (a risk from flu).