Older people’s chance of Alzheimer’s rises to 80% after covid-19

People aged 65 and older have up to 80% higher risk of developing it Alzheimer’s within one year of signing the contract Covid-19. The data are the result of a study conducted in the United States.

To arrive at this figure, the researchers collected and analyzed electronic records of 6.2 million elderly Americans who received some form of medical treatment between 2020 and 2021. None of them had a previous diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.

This sample of the population was split in two: 400,000 people were placed in the group with covid-19. Others were used to compare between infected and healthy patients.

The results showed that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease nearly doubled, from 0.35% in people without Covid-19 to 0.68% in those with coronavirus infection.

The increase varies between 50% and 80% in different groups. The highest figures are found in women over 85 years of age, revealing a great vulnerability in this segment of the population.

It is still unclear to researchers whether SARS-Cov-2 triggers the biological processes that result in Alzheimer’s, or whether the virus accelerates the development of a latent condition.

“If this increase in new diagnoses of Alzheimer’s disease continues, the wave of patients who currently have an incurable disease will increase significantly,” says Pamela Davis, professor at Case Western Reserve University (Ohio/USA) and author of the study.

“Alzheimer’s disease is a serious and challenging disease. It is important to continue to monitor the impact of this disease in the future.”

ARTICLE Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease: doi.rog/10.3233/JAD-220717