The Pandemic Appears to Have Accelerated Brain Aging, Even in People Who Never Got Covid

More than five Years after the start of the Covid-19s, we are still discovering the subsequent effects not only of the virus but also the long stress period, isolation, loss and uncertainty caused by the epidemic. A new scientific study, published this month in Nature Communications, revealed that the epidemic may have accelerated the aging of the brain in people even if they have never had a Corona virus.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK analyzed the brain’s photos taken before and after the appearance of the health crisis. Scientists found that the brains of those who lived through the epidemic seemed faster during its duration compared to those whose brains were wiped only before March 2020.

“Most of me surprised me is that even the people who did not have Kofid showed great increases in the rates of brain aging,” said Ali Reda Muhammadi Nad, who is a co -author of the study, in a statement on the university’s website. “It really shows the experience of the epidemic itself, everything from isolation to uncertainty, has affected our brain’s health.”

The team used longitudinal data from Biobank in the United Kingdom, a huge data collection that periodically collects biological information from about half a million people over a long period of time, which includes magnetic resonance imaging surveying about 1,000 adults. Among these people, some received examinations before the epidemic (the control group), while others had one before and one after the restrictions of imprisonment and health in response to the virus outbreak (the “epidemic”).

Stamatios Sotiropoulos, professor of arithmetic nervous imaging at the University of Nottingham and author of the study, said in a statement: “The longitudinal MRI data that was obtained before and after the epidemic of the biological bank in the United Kingdom gave us a rare window to monitor how such a main event of life could affect the brain,” said Stamatios Sotiropoulos, Professor of Arithmetic Nervous Imaging at the University of Nottingham and author of the study in a statement.

To estimate the “brain age” for every person, the researchers trained the machine learning model on more than 15,000 healthy volunteers without chronic diseases to allow him to determine the amount of the greater or younger brain in relation to his time age. Then they used this tool to evaluate the ages of MRI in the two biological groups. When looking at the second survey in each group, the medium difference between time and measurement was 5.5 months higher in the epidemic group compared to the control group.

The researchers also found that this acceleration in the aging of the brain was more clear in the elderly and men, and those of economic and economic backgrounds, such as those with low educational levels, unstable functions or health difficulties.

“This study reminds us that brain health is formed not only through the disease but through our daily environment,” Dorothy Air, author of the study, said in a statement issued by the University of Nottingham. “The epidemic put pressure on people’s lives, especially those who are already facing a defect.”

Although the aging of the brain was viewed globally among those who lived through the epidemic, only the injured continued to show mere cognitive impairment, which is one of the symptoms of Covid that has been documented in the past. The study found that those in the group of epidemic who have suffered from the examiners between the examiners witnessed a decrease in performance in mental speed tests and treatment speed tests. On the other hand, those who did not have any major cognitive changes appear, indicating that structural aging does not always translate into clear functional symptoms.

However, the authors acknowledge the presence of some important restrictions on this observation study, which can prejudice the results. This includes the interval between the operations of people that vary between the two groups, as well as the biological bank in the UK lacks representation from the most marginalized sectors of the British population.

The researchers also shed light on the possibility of reflection, as brain tests were analyzed only from two time points, which means that there may be nervous recovery in these people in the following years. “We do not yet know whether the allocated changes can be reversed, but it is an encouraging idea.”

This story was originally appeared on Wireless En español It was translated from Spanish.