Brain fog, other long Covid symptoms can last more than a year, new study finds

Brain fog, other long Covid symptoms can last more than a year, study finds The new research is the longest follow-up study of the neurological symptoms among long Covid patients. NBC News

The devastating neurological effects of long Covid can persist for more than a year, research published Tuesday finds — even as other symptoms abate. 

The study, published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, is the longest follow-up study of the neurological symptoms among long Covid patients who were never hospitalized for Covid. 

The neurological symptoms — which include brain fog, numbness, tingling, headache, dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus and fatigue — are the most frequently reported for the illness. 

The new study, from researchers at Northwestern University, is a follow-up to a shorter-term study published last spring that focused on 100 patients with long Covid. That research found that 85 percent of the patients reported at least four lasting neurological problems at least six weeks after their acute infections.

For the follow-up, the team continued to survey 52 of the original participants, who were patients at the university’s Neuro COVID-19 Clinic — a long Covid clinic — for up to 18 months. The cohort was three-quarters female, and the average age was 43. Almost 80 percent were vaccinated, and all had mild Covid symptoms that did not require hospitalization. 

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