Depressed mood or anxiety exhibited in Covid-19 patients may possibly be a sign the virus affects the central nervous system, according to a new study from a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researcher and reported by Yahoo News.
The findings, published in the journal The Laryngoscope, revealed that these two psychological symptoms were most closely associated with a loss of smell and taste rather than the more severe indicators of the novel coronavirus such as shortness of breath, cough or fever.
"These symptoms of psychological distress, such as depressed mood and anxiety are central nervous system symptoms if they are associated only with how diminished is your sense of smell," says Ahmed Sedaghat, MD, PhD, an associate professor and director of rhinology, allergy and anterior skull base surgery, in the UC College of Medicine's Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.
"This may indicate that the virus is infecting olfactory neurons, decreasing the sense of smell, and then using the olfactory tract to enter the central nervous symptom," he noted.
