Respiratory Therapy Patients with neurocognitive difficulties post COVID-19 infection displayed a significant increase in their blood plasma of a crucial protein linked to neurodegenerative diseases and found in many Alzheimer’s patients. A study of 227 individuals who experienced neurocognitive difficulties post COVID-19 infection – such as headaches, vertigo, balance dysregulation, changes in taste/smell, and brain fog – displayed a significant increase in their blood plasma of a crucial protein called tau, which is found in nerves and especially in the brain. Excess levels of tau are linked to neurodegenerative diseases and found in many Alzheimer’s patients.
Published this month in eBioMedicine, the study suggests that people who experience Long COVID neurocognitive symptoms could be at further risk for neurodegenerative diseases.
The research involves ongoing blood biomarker studies of 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) responders who are monitored by clinicians and researchers at the Stony Brook WTC Health and Wellness Program. The research team analyzed plasma samples taken prior to the participants’ COVID-19 infections and many months to years after having COVID-19. They measured a specific tau protein, pTau-181, which stands for phosphorylated tau, an abnormal type associated with dementia patients.