A WARNING has been issued to anyone who has had Covid over a side effect that can strike six months later.
Across the UK, many people have developed long Covid, which includes symptoms such as brain fog, headaches or anxiety.
But there have been numerous studies that show the bug could impact the heart, lungs and other organs.
Now experts at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi have uncovered brain changes in patients up to six months after they recovered from Covid-19.
The experts used MRI scans and analysed the images of 46 patients who had recovered and compared them to 30 healthy patients.
These images were taken within six months of recovery.
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The results of the scans showed that those who had the virus had a significantly higher chance of abnormal changes in the brain.
Changes were mostly seen in the frontal lobe and medics said this region is mostly linked to fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, depression, headaches and cognitive problems,
Co-author Sapna S. Mishra, a PhD. candidate at the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi said: "Our study highlights this new aspect of the neurological effects of Covid-19 and reports significant abnormalities in Covid survivors.”
The researchers also discovered a difference in the right ventral diencephalon region of the brain stem.
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They explained that this is mostly associated with crucial bodily functions – such as when you release hormones.
It also has an impact on the sleep-wake cycle, they added.
Writing in the journal Radiology, Mishra said: "This study points to serious long-term complications that may be caused by the coronavirus, even months after recovery from the infection.
"The present findings are from the small temporal window. However, the longitudinal time points across a couple of years will elucidate if there exists any permanent change."
Previous studies have shown that the virus can increase your risk of developing seizures or epilepsy within six months of being infected, medics in Oxford found.
Writing in the journal Neurology, the team at the University of Oxford said Covid poses a greater risk of the complication than flu – but added the overall risk is still low.
The increased risk was more noticeable in children than in adults and was also more common in those who had not been hospitalised with a Covid-19 infection, they found.
In July, medics in Denmark found that those who have the bug are more at risk of developing brain complications.
They found that 43,375 people who tested positive had a 3.5 times increased risk of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
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Doctors looked at data taken between February 2020 and November 2021 and also found those who had Covid were at a 2.6 times increased risk of developing Parkinson's.
They were also 2.7 times more likely to suffer ischaemic stroke and 4.8 times more likely to suffer a bleed on the brain.
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