American man’s fatal brain illness linked to Covid-19

The coronavirus can cause brain fog, hair loss and even erectile dysfunction, and now a new case in New York shows it can also contribute to a deadly prion disease.

A 62-year-old man was admitted to a New York hospital, Mount Sinai Queens Hospital Center, after he had difficulty walking and showed signs of rapidly progressive dementia, it was reported. American Journal of Case Reports.

The article states: “Clinically, he experienced worsening neurological function after testing positive for COVID-19 upon admission.”

The patient was eventually diagnosed with prion disease and his case has raised questions about whether Covid could have triggered the disease.

Doctors performed a series of tests on the man, including CT scans and MRI scans of the brain, “both of which were repeated twice and were normal without any diffusion restriction.”

However, his condition continued to deteriorate.

“Approximately 3 weeks after hospitalization, the patient became progressively mute and had difficulty swallowing soft foods, requiring placement of a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) tube,” the doctors wrote about the need for the feeding tube. . “He subsequently became spastic with severe pain on passive flexion-extension. Six weeks after admission, the patient was declared dead.”

Doctors in the report say the circumstances provide evidence of a “potential correlation” between Covid and neurodegenerative diseases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prion disease is “a family of rare progressive neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals. They are distinguished by long incubation periods, characteristic spongiform changes associated with neuronal loss, and an inability to induce an inflammatory response.” Prion diseases are fatal.

Symptoms of prion disease include changes in gait and difficulty walking, hallucinations, confusion, muscle stiffness, fatigue and slurred speech, according to The independent.

Doctors in the report said this is not the first time a patient has died from prion disease after Covid-19 infection. Doctors said it has happened at least three other times since the virus emerged.

The report said: “The evidence in the literature for an association between COVID-19 and neurodegeneration is unclear,” the study stated. “However, it is evident that multiple neurodegenerative diseases could be the result of pathogenic diseases, most commonly prion disorders.”