Most Hospitalized COVID Patients Have Neurological Symptoms, Study Says

A study in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology finds that neurological symptoms occur a lot in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, reports NBC News . Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and can encompass headaches, vertigo, and altered brain function. The researchers also determined that these symptoms may linger long after they recover. The team examined the first 509 patients hospitalized within their network of 10 hospitals and medical centers in Chicago in March and April, and slightly more than 25 percent had been put on ventilators. Most subjects, 82 percent, developed problems stemming from the nervous system. "That means four out of five hospitalized patients in our hospital system at the beginning of the pandemic had those neurologic problems," said Northwestern Medicine's Igor Koralnik. About 44.8 percent of patients reported muscle pain and 37.7 percent reported headaches, while just under a third developed encephalopathy. Ailments ranged from mild symptoms — like difficulty with attention, short-term memory, concentration, and multitasking abilities, "all the way to confusion, stupor, and coma," Koralnik said. Patients older than 65 were more likely to have severe brain function issues.