Alzheimer's disease and covid

Throughout the day on Tuesday of this week, I felt a little off.  By evening, I was feeling a little feverish.  My temperature came in at 99, when it's usually about 97.  So many people I know have been coming down with covid, that I wondered if that was what was going on.  About a month ago I became very ill with all the symptoms of covid, but I tested negative.  The doctor said he believed it was strep.  I did recover from that illness and felt well until this week.

Wednesday morning I had a temperature of 100 and was experiencing more "flu-like symptoms."  So I tested for covid again, and this time it came back positive.  I spoke with a friend who had been with me on Sunday, and he said that he was having the same experience. Toward evening, I felt better, and most of the symptoms calmed down by bed time.  I slept unusually well.  In the morning (today) my temperature was normal, and I felt nothing unusual.  But as the day has worn on, the flu-like symptoms have been returning.  Will I continue to worsen, or will the whole thing dissipate in another day or two?  Who knows.

My son points out that the coronavirus has significant neurologic effects, famously loss of taste and smell.  These have not been serious with me so far, but my lunch today tasted differently than in the past.  So maybe those are catching up with me.  But more worrying are reports of "brain fog."  And recently, more attention has focused on hearing loss and balance.  (Remember that hearing loss aggravates social isolation which aggravates Alzheimer's disease.)  Readers of this blog know that balance is at the top of my list of neurologic concerns.  My balance was unusually bad all day Wednesday, but seems to have returned to how it was before the infection.  So far, anyway.

There is a lot of worry about covid-19 and dementia.  We knew early on that the coronavirus caused unusual inflammation in the brain, a condition that could cause and will certainly aggravate Alzheimer's disease.  But recent research finds that the virus has a whole host of ways in which it causes or supports Alzheimer's disease.  This includes lockdowns that force people into social isolation, a major factor in the development of dementia.  In Beating the Dementia Monster, we discussed the likely role of the herpes virus in the development of Alzheimer's disease, and the coronavirus appears to provide a new pathway for the herpes virus in the brain.  But there are other factors.  This article from the journal, Translational Neurodegeneration surveys both the physiological and societal consequences of covid-19 with respect to Alzheimer's disease.

In the end, will my infection have lasting effects on my disease?  Time will tell.