Dementia and COVID-19: complications of managing a pandemic during another pandemic

Managing COVID-19 pandemic during the pandemic of dementia, seems to be challenging. Demented people may not be capable of following the health recommendations, which makes them more susceptible to getting infected. Differences in the clinical manifestation of COVID-19 in demented patients can lead to lack of diagnosis and more spreading of the virus. Also, taking care of dementia patients is more probable to get a poor outcome. The neuropsychiatric symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease seem to get deteriorate in COVID-19 confinement. The direct neuroinvasive capacity of coronavirus to infect the central nervous system is not well known, but there as multiple possible mechanisms suggested for indirectly mediated inflammation. Also, stress due to such a pandemic can accelerate cognitive decline. COVID-19 should not overshadow dementia care and demented patients’ mental and physical health should not be neglected during this pandemic.