One local doctor is taking a closer look at possible links between ICU hospitalization and the development of dementia.
"What we found is that people who experience an ICU hospitalization had about double the risk of developing dementia in the years after their hospitalizations," says Dr. Bryan James, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago.
He presented his new research recently at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in San Diego.
"The difference here is that we're showing a relationship with Alzheimers-type dementia and dementia that we usually think of that you develop over time in your late age," James said.
"We don't usually think of hospitalization as a risk factor."
With so many COVID hospitalizations, more cases of dementia can be expected, he said.
"I believe that we will see a blip up in the time from the COVID pandemic going forward and the years after," James said.
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