Coronavirus is already known to develop neurological issues in people. But a new study has found that neurological symptoms may appear even before fever or cough.
Patients with coronavirus had shown symptoms of headache, decreased alertness, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, seizures, and strokes, disorders of smell and taste and weakness, said the new Northwestern Medicine study.
Lead author Dr. Igor Koralnik said that the public and the physician should be aware of the early neurological symptoms even before other symptoms are shown. Dr Igor Koralnik is the chief of Northwestern Medicine neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology. He is neurology professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
In the review, the researchers describe the different neurological conditions that could happen in Coronavirus patients. They also outlined the ways to diagnose them.
They said that coronavirus may affect the entire nervous system such as the brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves. Koralnik said that coronaviorus may affect the lungs, heart and kidneys. As this happened, the brain may also suffer from lack of oxygen and could experience clotting disorders. These could lead to ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes, Koralnik said. Moreover, they said that the coronavirus could directly infect the brain and meninges.