After having read the paper I would say the headline of "no evidence of brain damage" is wrong. The journalist has misunderstood the intention and results of the paper.
The papers conclusion is that there are a more people with microbleeds in the group that were checked in to the ICU, than people who were also COVID-19 infected, but had less severity of symptoms. They also conclude that there is no difference in the cognitive dysfunction between the two groups, since it was 40% in both groups.
COVID-19 did give them brain damage (microbleeds). It also gave 40% of the participants cognitive dysfunction according to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Participants also reported severe fatigue, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
The title is completely not what the paper says. What the paper says is that there is no difference in impairment between ICU and non-ICU COVID patients, not that there is no neurological impairment.
The fact that the impairment is equivalent between ICU and non-ICU patients is a surprising finding given the extra brain bleeds. No conclusion as to "why" is hypothesized.
Quoting the paper:
"Some limitations need to be addressed. First, our study was designed in 2020 with the aim of clarifying clinical observations of neurological and neuropsychological sequelae in ICU and general ward COVID-19 patients. Whilst conducting the study, it became apparent that also mildly infected patients without the need for hospitalization develop serious long-term complaints. Including a non-hospitalized post-COVID-19 group and a control group of ICU patients without COVID-19 would have been of added value."
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 26.4 ms ] threadnltimes.nl should be ashamed for not reporting their sources.
The papers conclusion is that there are a more people with microbleeds in the group that were checked in to the ICU, than people who were also COVID-19 infected, but had less severity of symptoms. They also conclude that there is no difference in the cognitive dysfunction between the two groups, since it was 40% in both groups.
COVID-19 did give them brain damage (microbleeds). It also gave 40% of the participants cognitive dysfunction according to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test. Participants also reported severe fatigue, depression, anxiety, and insomnia.
The fact that the impairment is equivalent between ICU and non-ICU patients is a surprising finding given the extra brain bleeds. No conclusion as to "why" is hypothesized.
Quoting the paper: "Some limitations need to be addressed. First, our study was designed in 2020 with the aim of clarifying clinical observations of neurological and neuropsychological sequelae in ICU and general ward COVID-19 patients. Whilst conducting the study, it became apparent that also mildly infected patients without the need for hospitalization develop serious long-term complaints. Including a non-hospitalized post-COVID-19 group and a control group of ICU patients without COVID-19 would have been of added value."