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Neurological Symptoms and Issues with COVID-19
What are the signs of neurological issues associated with COVID-19?
There are a variety of neurologic symptoms
that can come with COVID-19.
They range from not serious to some that are very serious.
The symptoms that are less serious
are loss of sense of smell and headaches
and these are very common
while other symptoms such as dizziness, confusion
and paralysis are much more severe.
When do neurological symptoms typically occur during COVID-19?
These symptoms occur at different stages of COVID-19.
For instance, loss of smell and headaches
tend to occur early on in the setting of COVID-19 disease
while dizziness and confusion
which don't happen to every person that gets COVID-19
tend to occur during the middle stages of the disease
and then even rarer, paralysis
which can come on as a result of stroke
or Guillain-Barré syndrome
tend to occur much later in the disease
and only in very sick patients
who are usually already in the hospital.
When should I consult my doctor if I have neurological signs of COVID-19?
If you are having the neurologic symptoms
of loss of smell or headaches,
you should consult your primary care physician immediately
so they can perform COVID-19 testing.
If you have some of the other neurologic symptoms
of COVID-19 such as dizziness, confusion or paralysis,
it is extremely important to go immediately to the hospital
because these can be signs that you are having a stroke
and important testing is required
that can only be done in the hospital.
It is also important to know
that you can have any of these neurologic symptoms
without the usual symptoms of COVID-19
such as fever, cough or shortness of breath.
Who is at risk of neurological issues with COVID-19?
So who is at risk
for developing neurological issues with COVID-19?
First off, the neurologic symptoms
such as loss of sense of smell or headaches are very common
and anyone can develop them but they are not serious.
The other neurological issues which are more serious
such as dizziness, confusion or paralysis
tend to occur in people who are older,
people who have preexisting conditions
such as kidney failure, liver failure,
hypertension, diabetes or obesity
and also if you've ever had a stroke in the past
or seizures in the past,
those people are also at higher risk
for having more serious neurological issues with COVID-19.
What is the likelihood that someone will develop neurological issues associated with COVID-19?
The likelihood of getting a neurologic symptom
with COVID-19 is quite rare,
particularly when it comes to the more serious symptoms
such as paralysis, confusion or dizziness.
The other neurologic symptoms like loss of sense of smell
and headaches which are not serious
are much more common with the COVID-19 illness
but also get better as people recover
from the milder form of the illness.
What is the impact of COVID-19 neurological issues?
So what are some of the consequences
of having neurologic issues when you have COVID-19?
Well, if you have loss of sense of smell or headaches,
these are really common and often they will go away
as you recover from the illness.
On the other hand, if you're having confusion or dizziness,
these could be signs of more serious response to COVID-19
and often require hospitalization.
If you're having paralysis,
it could be a result of a new stroke
and it is extremely important
that you go immediately to the emergency room
if you're experiencing those symptoms.
Very rarely, paralysis can also be a result
of a rare condition called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
This often occurs in patients who have severe reaction
to the COVID-19 illness.
Other people who have paralysis
are persons that have had a stroke in the past
and often this will present as a return
of their old stroke symptoms.
Most of the time, those symptoms will improve
as they recover from the COVID-19 illness
and also some people who are confused,
it could be a result of having a seizure.
This almost exclusively happens in people
who have had seizures in the past
as COVID-19 illness can lower the seizure threshold
and cause people who've had seizure history
to have new seizures again.