Martina Navratilova delivers 1-word reaction as alarm bells sound over worrying COVID-19 development among adults
Martina Navratilova reacted to a concerning development reported in a study regarding older adults who are recovering from COVID-19. According to the study, the risk of dementia among such individuals is much higher compared to older adults who haven't been diagnosed with the viral respiratory illness that brought the world to a standstill a few years ago.
On Sunday, December 15, an X (formerly Twitter) user shared a study published on BMC. The study featured a review of 11 other studies, over 900,000 cases and almost 7 million controls. It came to the conclusion that older adults in recovery from COVID-19 have a 58% increased risk of dementia in comparison with those who have not been infected.
"Older adults recovering from COVID-19 face a 58% higher risk of developing dementia compared to those uninfected, with rates peaking 12 months post-infection. Study reviewed 11 studies, 940k cases, 6.8M controls. Early dementia prevention crucial," the user wrote.
Martina Navratilova, a former World No. 1 and 18-time singles Major champion, took notice of the post and reacted to it with just a single word.
"Yikes," Navratilova wrote.
Navratilova herself was diagnosed with the viral respiratory illness back in July 2022. The diagnosis compelled the legendary Czech-American to skip the parade of champions that took place on the iconic Center Court at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships. The nine-time ladies singles champion at SW19 expressed her disappointment at missing out on the star-studded affair via social media, writing:
"Yup, got it here for sure… oh well. So wanted to be on that court with so many champions of our sport. Unfortunately I will miss it as I just tested positive this morning. Am so bummed!!!! I am gutted I can't be there."
The Czech-born American also had also disagreed with Novak Djokovic's choice to not take the COVID-19 vaccine. However, Navratilova faced backlash from his fans for her views on the Serb's refusal to take the vaccine, and later issued a clarification.
"Didn't change my attitude towards Novak Djokovic at all" - Martina Navratilova on COVID-19 vaccine disagreement with Serb
Novak Djokovic chose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and the decision stirred controversy in the tennis world, most notably at the 2022 Australian Open. Martina Navratilova was among several high-profile tennis personalities to disagree with the Serb's choice, and many of Djokovic's loyalists lambasted the Czech-American as a result.
However, Navratilova issued a response to one of the Serb's diehard fans in 2022, and stated that the COVID-19 vaccination was the only issue on which she had differences with Djokovic.
"I didn’t change my attitude towards Novak at all . I agree with him on most things, I disagree with him completely on one. Anything else you got? Claiming your bodily autonomy is fine. But you cannot impose that on a country, it just doesn’t work that way. It’s all good," Martina Navratilova wrote on Twitter (now X).
Djokovic's unvaccinated status resulted in the Serb being forced to miss the 2023 editions of the Australian Open and US Open.